Appreciate all the responses above.

No VAT refunds. Just showing up, going to CX counter, getting printed BP, and heading to immigration and security.

Last time I was on CX at CDG, I got my BP from CX at the last possible second - I can't remember if it was 40 or 50 minutes before departure - and made it fine.

Curious if I can still pull that off with this flight. I'm a little nervous and leaning towards fakecd's advice, which involves flying (instead of training) back to CDG and arriving at like 8am. The schedule sucks which is why I prefer the train.

Hoping/praying someone comes along this thread who has flown CX261 or CX279 lately and calmly reassures me that 50-60 minutes is still okay!!! T minus 12 hours to make a decision. If not, I'm sadly taking the early route. I hate hanging out at these outports a second longer than necessary, but my gut says this is just a little too risky at CDG these days unless I get a knowledgeable anecdote.