Site for train tickets within France

You may not have delved far enough into the seat61 site.
Is this not the direction you should be looking at?
http://www.seat61.com/voyages-sncf.htm#.UtwgGhDFLDc

@ donna,

when i booked my tickets from Paris to Bayeux, i used the SCNF web site and did the print @ home route. no problem.

for what its worth (fwiw), i use the Raileurope for logistics (to see if it can be done and not buy tickets) along with some other sites. i havent purchased tickets from them since they are more expensive but that wont stop me from using them if they are the only game in town.

If i remember correctly (iirc), if you select the USA, it will redirect you to a different site. IIRC,i used UK or someplace else.

happy trails.

You can use the SNCF-Voyages site. Some tickets can be printed at home, others must be picked up at a train station in France. If you pick up tickets be sure to have the credit card you paid for the tickets. You don't need reservations for the trip to Chartres, there's a train every hour or so.

@Ray: The bahn.de site is much more extensive for checking schedules, but only sells tickets for trips beginning or ending in Germany.

tgv-europe.com is a multi-language site operated by SNCF. To book in English go to that site, remove the check mark from the "direct trains only" box, and choose France as your ticket retrieval country. You can get a Prems discount fare as low as €20.00 for direct Intercites trains from Bayeux to Paris. You can print your own ticket. If you choose a departure time that requires a connection in Caen, you'll pay a little more.

Only regional trains operate between Paris and Chartres. There is open seating and there are no discount fares. Buy a ticket at the station and jump on any train.

@ Zoe,

@Ray: The bahn.de site is much more extensive for checking schedules, but only sells tickets for trips beginning or ending in Germany.

That has been pounded into me everytime i say i use Raileurope for logistics.

Again, to each his own. i also check if the country im interested in has their own train web site.

happy trails.

Neil, Ray, Zoe & Tim - thanks for all your help!

So other readers may be clear about using the SNCF site, the easiest way to avoid the bump to RailEurope is to specify a non-US ticket pick-up. Canada no longer works, maybe not Australia, so start near the top of the country list with Antarctica. It's not a country, has no permanent residents and certainly no rail lines. Completely illogical, but it works fine to obtain tickets, either printed out at home or, if that option isn't available for the particular ticket, retrieved from any SNCF station or sales point in France.

Also with the SNCF-Voyages site, you can sign-up for an "Alerte-Resa".

This tool is useful for people who are planning their trips weeks and months ahead of the tickets becoming available for sale. You specify the date in the future that you wish to travel, provide your e-mail address, and you will receive a notice when these tickets come up for sale. I've used this tool 3 times now.

Apart from serving as a buying reminder, the best deals on offer tend to sell out fast - so this tool allows you to be quick enough to get
the lowest fares.

BTW - I always choose France as my country for the purpose of buying my tickets.

I had trouble getting tickets from SNCF because it would not clear my credit card co, even after I notified my cc. I had no trouble getting the same tickets from Capitaine Train (after notifying cc).
For Paris-Chartres there is a 25% discount if you are age 60 or over and travel after 8 am. As others have said, you can just buy this ticket when you are in Paris.