TGV train from Avignon to Paris

A day or two ahead is fine.

But I'm cheap and I'd buy the advance-purchase fare of something like €22 vs +/-€80. It looks like you need to wait about 10 days for all of your choices to be available to you - train schedules are posted only so far out, usually around 3 months (compare the 2 trains shown for Nov 4 compared to the 21 for Oct 25); if you decide to purchase ahead of time, or simply want to see what your choices are ahead of time, go to http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/. Choose 'Great Britain' as your "Ticket Collection Country" so that you aren't redirected to RailEurope's website. Then on the next page choose the 2nd option to stay with tgv-europe and NOT go to RailEurope (sometimes it doesn't ask). There will be an option just below the main grid of trains (at the top of the page) that says "NEW! Click here for the lowest prices in a particular month". Definitely click on that - it's a great new feature that shows you the cheapest price of any given day; of course, your days are already determined but it might still be useful to you if you have other trains you'd like to take. At the very bottom of those listings, there's a line you can click on that says "Back to standard search". (cont.)

(cont.) IF you decide to purchase tickets online, Read Carefully! Many tickets can be exchanged up to 5 hours before departure time, but some can't. Also, you Must Bring the credit card used to purchase the tickets with you!!! You'll be asked to show it. Also, Don't Choose "Collection from an Automatic Ticket Machine"! You need a chip-and-PIN credit card for that, and the USA banks don't issue that kind of card. Instead, choose "E-ticket service" or something like "Collect from a French station", meaning take your confirmation email printout to a ticket window at any French train station or SNCF boutique. It's all spelled out for you during the buying process. It's really not as difficult as all this probably makes it sound LOL! But, for me, I'd definitely rather pay more along the lines of €132 and NOT €480+ for the 6 tickets. More money for wine...;-)

I'm with Eileen. Cheap is good! Depending upon departure time (off-peak or peak hours), the standard 2nd class fare for Avignon-Paris ranges from €82 to €110. Booked up to three months in advance, the Prem's fare can be as low as €22 for any TGV. Or book an iDTGV up to four months or so in advance and get a fare as low as €19.

When we booked reservations for France a few days before they were booked on the times we requested....granted it was in the end of June 2011, but I would make the reservations 2 weeks ahead of time. That should give you peace of mind and making the reservations in September is not as busy than in the summer.