Orléans is a middle-sized town in the famous "Vallée de la Loire", some 120 kms to the south-west of Paris. The Loire river in fact traverses the city. The weather at the end of May is typical european springtime weather : nice and warm, and very few showers. The French say : "En Mai fais ce qui te plait", so pleasant riverside walks in the evening can form part of your program.
The city is centred around the Place du Martroi, dedicated to Jeanne d'Arc, to whom the city's history owes a lot. (You may usefully consult now a detailed map of the city center.) Although most parts of the town had to be re-built after the last world war, walking across the streets around this place must be a pleasant experience, especially in May. The region of Orléans ("Sologne") is famous for hunting and fishing. Several good restaurants are located not far from the Martroi place, and propose menus where you can enjoy regional specialities. It is also highly recommended to go through the main pedestrian street "la rue de Bourgogne", where you can also enjoy foreign cooking.
Spots in the city concerning UNIF'97
As you perhaps noticed already, 4 spots are identified explicitly in our map.
You will be lodged at the Hotel IBIS "Orléans-Centre" (spot identified as A), situated some 200 metres from the city-central railway station (spot C). PLEASE take care NOT to go to a hotel known as Ibis "Orléans-Gare", that we have NOT marked on our plan.
The UNIF'97 sessions will be held at the Natural Science Museum (spot D) on Wednesday the 28th of May. On Thursday 29/5 and Friday 30/5 the UNIF sessions will be held at the Mediathèque (spot B).
How to Reach Orléans from Paris ?
Going from Paris to Orléans is extremely easy.By train : Frequent express trains to Orléans are available from the Gare d'AUSTERLITZ in Paris.
Orléans is served by two train stations. "Les AUBRAIS" is the station on the mainline, at the outskirts of the city; it is located outside our plan; the second is the city-central station (spot C). All trains serve the Les AUBRAIS station, but not necessarily the city-central. If you take a train not serving the second, alight at Les AUBRAIS, and from there take the connecting railway shuttle to the city-central. The journey takes approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. From there Hotel IBIS Orléans-Centre is at 5-10 minutes walking distance (see map).
If the luggage you are carrying is very heavy, we recommend that you get off at Les AUBRAIS and take a taxi to the hotel. (From the city-central station, the distance to IBIS is too small for taxis.)
Here is some information, on how to reach the Austerlitz Rly station from the airports, and on the train services between Paris and Orléans:
By Car : From Paris take the autoroute ("freeway", actually not free in France) number A10-E15, direction Bordeaux, and when near Orléans, take one of the two exits : "Orléans-Nord" or "Orléans-Centre". (We would rather recommend the latter.) Afterwards, following the directions "Centre Ville" or "Place d'Arc" or "SNCF - Gare d'Orléans" will lead you to the vicinity of the Mediathèque (spot B in the map); from there reaching Hotel IBIS Orléans-Centre is easy (see map). Total driving time : normally less than 2 hours.
A few telephone and fax numbers :
Your IBIS Hotel :
Tel.: 02 38 54 23 11 (from inside France),
33 2 38 54 23 11 (from abroad)
Fax: 02 38 62 19 00 (from inside France),
33 2 38 62 19 00 (from abroad)
LIFO Laboratory :
Tel.: 02 38 41 70 11 (from
inside France), 33 2 38 41 70 11 (from abroad)
Fax: 02 38 41 71 37 (from inside France),
33 2 38 41 71 37 (from abroad)
