[jwasbury]

Weather wasn't on your side, but maybe you could have gotten on a non-stop from PDX to EWR or JFK (assuming there is such a thing) and then connected to CDG from there?

My wife and I had a similar situation recently when we flew south on Thanksgiving day. Itinerary was EWR to Dulles, on to Savannah, GA. In the morning before leaving for the airport I had a notice from United that the first leg was delayed due to mechanical on the inbound plane. That situation worsened and by the time we were checking in it was obvious we'd miss the connection. Not wanting to spend an evening in a hotel at Dulles, I asked the agent calmly if there was any other way to get us to Savannah (otherwise we miss Thanksgiving Dinner and may as well go home and try again the next day). She found seats on a non-stop EWR to SAV flight (seats were not available when we booked the travel), and we actually got to our destination before the originally scheduled arrival.

Not much point in second guessing your decision now, but in these situations I always ask about alternative itineraries that can deliver me timely to the final destination, even if it means different airlines, or different stops.