The Town

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 is 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.

Conference Location

The conference will be held at the Natural Science Museum, Rue Marcel Proust, Orléans
from Monday May 26 to Wednesday May 28 (see the map , spot 1).

The site for lunch is Restaurant RIE Mairie, 2 rue des Anglaises, Orléans (see the map, spot 3).

The reception will be held at the Hotel Groslot, Orléans on Tuesday May 27 (see the map, spot 4).

The site for banquet is Le Rivage, Olivet.

How to Reach Orléans from Paris ?

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 2). 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.

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 center of Orléans. Total driving time : normally less than 2 hours.

A few telephone and fax numbers :

LIFO Laboratory :

Tel.: 02 38 41 70 11 (from inside France), 33 2 38 41 41 70 (from abroad)
Fax: 02 38 41 71 37 (from inside France), 33 2 38 41 71 37 (from abroad)