I have a similar (but somewhat different) issue from those discussed in this thread, and would welcome any advice from people experienced in making French rail bookings from the US.

I want to book 3 rail journeys on the Voyages-sncf website. Only one of them qualifies for an "e-ticket." For the other two, I can pick up at a station or have the tickets mailed to me. Using either a machine or a ticket office at the station would require me to have a PIN for my card, according to SNCF, and since my preferred (Chase) card has no PIN, I need the tickets to be mailed to me.

The opening SNCF booking screen asks for the "distribution country," and if one chooses "USA" one is routed to Rail-Europe. No, thank you. If I choose "Other countries (Euro)" I can continue with the SNCF booking. However, at the check-out stage, when one is asked for an address, the drop-down list of countries appears to include every country in the world with the singular exception of the US.

I tried entering the address in France of the relative with whom we will be staying first on our travels, but the purchase was rejected. I had assumed that was because the mailing address for the tickets was not the same as my card's billing address, but the OP's experience of more general rejections of Chase cards suggests that other factors might be in play.

Following suggestions earlier in this thread, I tried Capitaine Train, but they don't mail tickets apparently, and I would have the same PIN problem in collecting the tickets at the station.

Is there any collective wisdom about how best to make my bookings?