XMM-SSC, Consortium Meeting #31

CEA Saclay, April 16-17, 2018

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How to reach the meeting spot

Meeting Place:

The meeting place is the Astrophysics department at CEA Saclay, building 709 at Orme des Merisiers (Google maps).

I expect most participants will arrive by bus (see below). The path to the meeting room is shown here. From the bus stop, walk through the small gate into the CEA premises. You will need to walk along a large construction site and will arrive from the rear.

If the pedestrian gate is locked or the path is too muddy you will have to follow the longer walk around the fence through the car gate (as on Google maps).

The meeting room for the SAG is room Galilee in a separate building. All other meeting rooms (steering group and SAS WG) are in the main building (709) on the other side of the small street (white roof on Google maps, red walls). See the close-up map.

By regular bus:

All bus trips cost one metro ticket. The bus stop is Orme des Merisiers. The return trip is symmetric.

From Massy-Palaiseau RER station or Palaiseau (minimum travel time: 20 mn):

Bus 91.06 B or C (not A), located at the end of the bus station to the south (see map at this site), runs about every 15mn. During peak hours the buses are more frequent but half of them terminate at the previous stop (Joliot-Curie).

From Le Guichet RER station (minimum travel time: 10 mn):

Bus 9 (direction Christ de Saclay and Jouy en Josas) runs about every 20mn, more frequently at peak hours. To reach the bus station, cross the rails through the underground tunnel, then turn right at the crossroads, cross the street and follow the footpath downwards to reach the bus station below. See map at this site.

By private bus:

From Paris Porte d Orleans metro station (travel time: 40-60 mn depending on traffic):

This is a chartered bus (free of charge) which runs about every 10-15mn from 7:15 to 8:45 in the morning (arriving between 8:00 and 9:30), and back to Paris at 16:48, 17:03, 17:18, 17:33, 17:48, 18:18 and 18:48 in the evening. The bus waits in Paris at 3, avenue de la porte d Orleans. See map and itinerary there. Step down at CEA/Orme (6^th stop). The bus stops at a round-about near the annotation CEA Orme des Merisiers on the site map. To access this bus one needs to show a visitor document (ask one to Jean Ballet if you are interested).

By RER train:

From Charles de Gaulle airport (total travel time: 1h45):

- take the RER B train (Paris by train) through Paris to Massy-Palaiseau. Look at the boards, not all trains go to Massy-Palaiseau. The good ones terminate at Massy-Palaiseau itself, Orsay or Saint Remy les Chevreuse. Then catch bus 91.06 as explained above

- Alternatively, take the RER B train to Le Guichet (4 stops further). Trains which stop at Le Guichet terminate at Orsay or Saint Remy les Chevreuse. Then catch bus 9 as explained above

- Beware that April 18 (Wednesday) will be a railway strike. This affects the north part of the RER B line, leading to Charles de Gaulle airport. Avoid flying back from Charles de Gaulle Wednesday morning if you can (Orly should not be affected as much).

From Orly airport (total travel time: 55 mn):

• take the ORLY VAL train (signposted in the airport) to the RER B "Antony"
  railway station then (see above, from Charles de Gaulle)

- Either take the RER B south (direction Saint Remy les Chevreuse) to Massy-Palaiseau, then catch bus 91.06

- Or take the RER B south to Le Guichet, then catch bus 9

• An alternative to the OrlyVal is to catch bus 91.10 (Orly sud: exit C; Orly west: exit H) which runs direct to Saclay. It is cheaper (a single metro ticket) but slower (1h05) and runs only once per hour. Here is the timetable.

From Paris Denfert Rochereau (total travel time: 55 mn) or any RER B station in Paris:

• Same as from Charles de Gaulle airport above

Transportation fares:

All bus trips cost one metro ticket. Metro tickets can be bought at machines at any metro or RER station. They are cheaper when bought in packs of 10 (carnet). They are more expensive when bought in the buses themselves.

RER tickets cost a different amount for a different trip and must be bought and stamped before boarding the train.

By car:

This is not recommended due to the construction works in the Saclay area, which slow the traffic down and fool many GPS systems, and the construction works inside Orme des Merisiers, which drastically reduced the parking space.

In case you need to, Google maps is approximately up to date regarding roads (but it does not know of the huge new building growing just in front of ours). There is a large parking lot a little further than our building (near the spot named Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l Environnement on Google maps) and a smaller one behind our building (marked on this map).