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Sig, there is a very fast train from Avignon TGV to Paris. 2hrs39min. It's not in the center of Avignon so you will need to take either a Regionale train or bus from Gare-de-Avignon which is the train station in the center of the city. The two stations are about 30 minutes apart. You can buy these tickets up to 90 days out on www.tgv-europe.com. Just put in Great Britain or Canada as your Ticket Collection Country. Don't put in USA or you will be switched to RailEurope. Since you could have a TGV train coupled with a Regionale train, you can buy the ticket but you may have to pick it up at a staffed train station in France. If the ticket were TGV only, you could print out your E-ticket at home. For Paris to Zurich, it's a direct TGV-Lyria all the way. Again, it's www.tgv-europe.com and you should be able to print this one out at home.

There are no tracks, and therefore no trains, between Avignon TGV and Avignon (station or City). There is a very easy very cheap Navette (shuttle bus) into town from the TGV station. It is about 5km (3 miles) and takes less than 10 minutes.

You're also lucky because trains from Paris to Switzerland leave from the same station as you'll arrive from Nice at, Gare de Lyon. No need to switch stations in Paris.

Allow me to make a correction to Larry's post. When you go to tgv-europe-com, you first must pick a country of residence. If you pick the US, you will automatically be bumped to the US Rail Europe site. If you pick Great Britain, you will be asked if you want to go to the UK Rail Europe site or to stick with tgv-europe. Choose to stick with tgv-europe and choose France as your ticket collection country. You can book a full three months in advance (as of today that would be 12 June), not 90 days. There are direct TGVs to Paris from both Avignon Centre and Avignon TGV, but rental car pick up and drop off is at Avignon TGV. Booking ASAP can get you a Frem's fare as low as €25 for Avignon-Paris and a Piccolissimo fare as low as €25 for Paris-Zurich. There is an allotted number of discount fare tickets and they sell out fast. Those tickets are non-returnable and non-exchangeable so be sure you can commit before booking.

Thanks all for the advice. Tim I really appreciate all the help you have provided over the last couple of months planning our trip. One more question, once you log on and purchase your ticket, do you establish a log on and password and then print off your ticket in France?

Once you have booked a ticket, you have several options. If it's offered, the one you want is "print at home." You get a PDF e-mailed to you, so you can re-print this from any computer at any time. Although it says to use A4 paper, 8½ by 11 works fine. If you are getting a ticket that does not have the print at home option, choose pick up from a ticket window, not from a machine (unless you have a chip and pin card); the machines do not take swipe cards. And if you have to pick up a ticket, it's usually easier to use a SNCF Boutique, which is a ticket office where you can sit in quasi-air conditioning, take a number (likely at the bakery) and wait for your turn. They're all over cities, and particularly handy if you're not near a station but want to get your tickets. Again, you will need the credit card used to buy the ticket. If you are ordering multiple tickets and are not able to get the print at home or pick up at the ticket window options, try ordering them one at a time (in other words, only have one ticket in your cart before buying, not multiple ones). If you are using a print at home ticket, you need to show your passport with it (you have to enter your passport number to buy the ticket, and this is then checked by the conductor). As long as you follow the advice above to choose Great Britain as your country and France as you ticket pickup country, and refuse to be redirected to Rail Europe, it work fine (even though I know it sounds complicated).

Sig, in general, if you are on all TGV trains, you can print out your E-tickets at home just after you buy them. However, if you are on a regional train or you have a regional train coupled with your TGV train, you can still buy the tickets but you will have to pick them up at any staffed train station in France. Just make sure that you don't get switched to RailEurope.