Thanks to the TGV (High Speed Train) running at 300
km/h (185 mph) Le Creusot is a very accessible location, as it is
the first stop from Paris on one of the main French lines going from
Lille to Marseille.
Therefore, it is possible to travel by train to Le Creusot-TGV
in a very short time from Lille, Douai, Arras, TGV Haute Picardie,
Charles de Gaulle Airport, Marne la Vallée (Euro-Disney), Paris
Gare de Lyon, Nantes, Angers, Saumur, St Pierre des Corps, Massy TGV,
Lyon Part-Dieu, Lyon Perrache, St Etienne, Valence, Avignon, Nîmes,
Montpellier, Sète, Agde, Béziers, Narbonne, Carcassonne,
Toulouse, Perpignan, Aix en Provence, Marseille, Toulon, Draguignan,
St Raphaël, Cannes, Antibes, Nice.
You can make reservations and/or buy your
tickets from the URL of the French state-owned railway company http://www.sncf.com/indexe.htm
Be sure to mention "Le Creusot-TGV" or
"Le Creusot - Montceau - Montchanin" when buying
your train ticket (high speed train station), as "Le Creusot"
only will get you to the old standard snail train
(100 mph) station.
Once you are at Le Creusot, there are several ways
to go to the town centre:
- Taxis are available at the train station
as well as rental cars that you can book in advance (EUROPCAR: +33
(0)3.85.78.11.18, AVIS: +33 (0)3.85.78.11.18, ADA: +33 (0)3.85.55.51.51).
However, the High Speed Train station (TGV) being in the middle of nowhere
(as it is shared by the towns of Le Creusot, Montceau and Montchanin),
I think that taking a cab to the town centre will cost you at
least 100FF (15.24EUR).
- A much cheaper solution would be to use one of the town shuttles, which
will get you to the town centre for the ridiculous amount of 6.20FF (0.95EUR)
provided you were wise enough to get small change before boarding the
shuttle.
You may ask the driver to drop you at the
University (Centre Universitaire Condorcet, Plaine des Riaux) or
as near as possible from your hotel.
However, as those shuttles were quite expensive to run,
they are only scheduled with popular trains and they can only take up
to 13 passengers.
Therefore, special coaches hired by EA'01 are available to complement the town shuttles, giving the
following schedule:
-
On Sunday 28th:
-
Town shuttles at 5.44pm, and 7.44pm plus an EA'01 coach at 9.22pm
The town shuttles should be able to drive you to your hotels.
The EA'01 coach will drop you at your hotel, wait for you to check
in and can pick you up to go to the town centre (although
considering it will be quite late, you might be better off having
dinner at your hotel, unless you have chosen the cheap "Formule 1"
which does not have a restaurant.)
-
Monday 29th in the morning:
-
EA'01 coaches at 7.31am and 8.50am.
Both coaches will call at the following hotels : Formule 1,
Novotel, Moulin Rouge, La Petite Verrerie and the Centre
Universitaire Condorcet (the conference venue).
The idea is that those of you coming with the first train will have
the opportunity to check in and leave your luggage at your hotel,
while those taking the second train will go directly to the
conference (with their luggage). The 8.50 coach will stop at all
hotels only to pick up the participants who came in with the first
train.
-
Monday 29th in the evening:
-
An EA'01 coach will start from the town
centre (Schneider square) at either 9.00pm or 10.00pm (yet to be
determined) to drive back those of you who chose an out of town
hotel. This late shuttle should allow you to have dinner in town.
-
Tuesday 30th morning:
-
An EA'01 coach will pick you up at your hotel
from 7.30 am (Formule 1 and NOVOTEL) to 8.00am (Moulin Rouge) to
drive you to the conference (which is scheduled to start at
8.30am).
-
Tuesday 30th afternoon:
-
4.00pm: Two coaches will take all participants
to visit a wine producer's cellars. The coaches will come back by
8.30pm to the restaurant ("Le Vieux Saule") where the banquet will
take place.
At 11.00pm, the coaches will drive you back to your respective
hotels.
-
Wednesday 31st morning:
-
7.30am (aargh this will be hard !) Coach
picks you up from the hotels Formule 1 and Novotel, then at 8.00am from the
Moulin Rouge to arrive at 8.15 at the conference venue.
-
Wednesday 31st afternoon:
-
5.00pm a coach will drive you directly to
the TGV station for those of you who chose to take the 5.41pm
direct high speed train to Paris.
-
Thursday Nov 1st, early morning:
-
A coach will pick you up at your
hotels from 6.00am onwards for those of you who chose to take the direct
7.01am high speed train to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport
(8.34am).
You will find below the schedules from and to Paris
Gare de lyon, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lyon and Marseille. The numbers
appearing here and there refer to the following table:
(1): Except on Saturdays, Sundays and Nov 1st.
(2): Except on Saturdays and Nov 1st.
(3): Fridays only and Oct 31st.
(4): Saturdays only and Nov 1st.
(5): Sundays only.
(6): Except on Fridays.
(7): Does not call at Lyon Perrache on saturdays.
(8): Except on Sundays. Calls at Brussels on Mondays only.
(9): Saturdays and Sundays only and Nov 1st.
More detailed informations (including an interactive
city
map) are available on the web site creusot.net
(in french however...). |
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