Couchettes are routinely available in many French Intercity services.....I used one from Chateauroux to Paris not too long ago.... but they are pretty poor......I actually quite like the AMTRAK sleeper services... but then I can book well in advance and pay little more than the cheapest flight + cheap hotel equivalents Thoroughly enjoyed the CHI-SAC trip which is the longest I've done... I also caught one that dropped our sleeper carriage off (in DFW??) in the middle of the night while we slept on.....