Practical InformationPlanningTo allow more participants in Les Houches there will be two 10-days sessions. The first session is from 11 to 20 June 2007. The second session will take over from 20 to 29 June 2007. See here for the working group schedule. FeesThe total fee covers lodging (single room) and meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). It amounts to 750 Euros for a 10 day period. This fee should be made payable to the Secretariat in Les Houches upon arrival. How and when to pay. VisasSome nationals require a visa for France. This is delivered as a Schengen visa. Note that if you are travelling from another Schengen country to France you will be permitted to enter France provide your visa is valid during the whole periof of your stay. It is important to note that Switzerland is NOT a Schengen country. Therefore if you intend to come to Les Houches via Geneva/Switzerland you will require a Swiss visa in addition to the French/Schengen visa. Coming to Les Houches via Geneva is very practical. There will be a conference bus from/to CERN-Les Houches. If you require a visa, please indicate so when you register so that we can send you appropriate invitation letters. We also urge you to apply for visas at least two months in advance.
How to contact the Centre des Houches?
Postal Address: Phone: +33 4 50 54 40 69 (from Monday to Friday at office hours) Fax: +33 4 50 55 53 25 E-mail: secretariat.houches@ujf-grenoble.fr
You may contact participants at meals hours
(12h40-13h40 and 19h40-20h40)
Emergency number, only reachable during the meeting, outside office
hours: The School has the following facilities:
For the Workshop Physics at TeV Colliders special arrangements have been made as concerns the computing facilities (details will be posted later). A network, with in particular a WiFi connection, will be installed. Your StayMost participants will be staying at the Centre, Ecole de Physique des Houches. A few will be accomodated at the hotel next by, Les Amis de la Nature.Stay in the Centre de Physique Meals are taken at the school dining room. Drinks are not included. Coffee, tea (free!) and liqueurs are available at the cafeteria.
Participants are housed in "chalets". All the buildings have been renovated recently. Most rooms are single occupancy. The cafeteria has a piano, baby-foots and table tennis. A few mountain bikes are available. Pictures of the Housing and Conference complex at Les Houches. Stay at Les Amis de la Nature The hotel is a chalet style building. Those staying at the hotel will take their meals including breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Drinks are not included.Coffee, tea and liqueurs are available at the cafeteria. On our last visit the Bar here seemed to have a much better selection of drinks than at the school cafeteria.... Breakfast : 8:00 am to 8:45 am ; Lunch : 12:30 am ; Dinner : 7:30 pm Weather:Weather is unpredictable (altitude 1150 m), temperature may range from -15 to 5°C in winter and from 5 to 25°C in summer. Sport clothes are preferable. Warm sweater(s), rain gear, good walking shoes and home shoes are necessary. Note that we will most probably organise some excursions. For the period 11-29 June we recommend that you bring some warm clothes,
just in case it gets chilly in the evenings. Weather
in Les Houches and Chamonix (8kms away in the valley...)
Various:A flashlight is handy at night ; the school chalets and Les Amis de la Naure are scattered on the mountainside and outside lights may be poor (power failures, storms, star parties).Electricity: AC, 50Hz, 220V.
Access:For those who need a visa, please note that if you intend to come to Les Houches from Switzerland you need both a Swiss and French visa. A Schengen visa is not valid for Switzerland.By Conference Bus: CERN<->Les Houches (Centre de Physique and Amis de la Nature) The bus journey from CERN to Les Houches takes about 1h40.
From Geneva centre (main bus station) to the Les Houches Village. Take the bus going to Chamonix and get off at the stop Office du Tourisme (tourist center) of Les Houches. This bus starts in fact at Geneva Airport before continuing to Geneva centre, then the Chamonix Valley (les Houches) Bus Timetable: download the pdf file here Geneva bus station website Note however that the service is not convenient. First
it is not frequent. Second, the bus stops in the village which is still
4kms away from the School. If you do not want to climb on foot, we advise
you to take a taxi. Fare: about 12 Euros.
To go from Geneva train station to the bus station For a map of Geneva and general information. By plane, Shuttle/Limo service from Geneva Airport Geneva Airport is 1 hour drive from les Houches. There is a regular bus service between Geneva Centre and Les Houches (see section Local Buses from Geneva). It is possible to use a limousine or shuttle service but you would need to make a reservation online with one of these companies:
When you make the reservation specify Geneva-->Chamonix Valley. By train: Arrival at Les Houches station, with one change at Saint-Gervais (from
France). There is about 10 trains per day between St Gervais and Les Houches.
If you are coming from Geneva
we strongly advise you not to take the train. Les Houches train station
is about 5 kms from the Centre de Physique (the latter being uphill!!). If
you do not want to climb on foot, we advise you to take a taxi. Fare:
about 12 Euros.
For other fares, the updated train timetable and reservations
you can consult the French
Railways site.
By road: The best way to find your way is to print the itinerary given by the online Michelin interactive map. Les Houches are easily accessible from France (A41 highway), from
Switzerland
(Martigny and Col des Montets). As of June 2007, we are told of some roadworks around Les Houches. Roadworks might be completed before session 2 starts. This exit may therefore be closed. If, so continue along the motorway for about 1 km (pass under a an ugly ``bunker-type bridge...) till the next exit. Take "Houches centre" (which means you will have to cross the center of the village). It is easy, once you've left the motorway you arrive at a Xroad : turn right, pass over a bridge above a creek, keep on straight ahead accross the village. You will reach the cable-car station of Bellevue. When arriving at the cable car station "Bellevue", turn right and continue upwards (roughly 2 km starting from the cable car). You will reach a small roundabout, near a second cable car station, named the "Prarion". Turn left and follow the sign "Ecole de Physique", "U.T.A.N." (Union Touristique les Amis de la Nature). Go uphill till the Route de la Côte des Chavants where you will have to make a sharp (right) turn (there is a sign for Ecole des Houches/Centre de Physique). For those going to the Hotel Les Amis de la Nature, look for a sign (entrance to the hotel) on the left hand side of the road. Those driving to the Centre should drive almost all the way up the Côte des Chavants and follow Parking Visiteurs. From Chamonix: bear right for "Les Houches-Chef-Lieu", turn right in Les Houches, go ahead at the cable car station "Bellevue". Then proceed as above. Cars may be rented from Geneva and from Chamonix, but it is useful to make reservations. What to do in Les Houches?Astronomy: Sky conditions are quite good at the School (when the sky is clear...) despites the lights of les Houches and Chamonix. As an example, here are photos of Sagittarius and of the Hale-Bopp comet taken from the School.gif (175 Ko)jpeg (20 Ko) - gif (170 Ko) The Astronomy Club of Chamonix has good instruments and organizes very nice star parties in the mountains (col de Balme, 2200 m) during summer. Contact Observatoire du Mont-Blanc, 67 Lacets du Belvédère, 74400 Chamonix (Tel: 04 50 53 45 16). Ideal for hiking, climbing, .....
Consult the Les Houches
Tourism
web page
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