ResiM 2008 conference will be held on September 24-26 at the IRISA laboratory which is located on the campus of Beaulieu "Campus de Beaulieu" in Rennes, Brittany (France).

Brittany

Brittany is a large peninsula "on the edge of the world" as people used to say, in the northwest of France, lying between the English Channel to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Brittany is one of France's most rugged regions with hundreds of bays, inlets and islands. It is said that Brittany is a fascinating mix of spectacular coastline known as the "Emerald coast", ancient beautiful towns, historic fishing villages, magical islands and inland woods.

Brittany is one of the six Celtic Nations and used to be a Celtic duchy for more than one thousand years before its annexation to France in 1532. It is a fascinating land rich in culture, tradition and history with a strong regional identity that has been forming during centuries of relative isolation. Brittany is a region proud of its roots and has successfully retained its customs and traditions.

More about Brittany at:
http://www.discoverbrittany.com/
http://www.brittanytourism.com/

© Office de Tourisme de Rennes Métropole

© Office de Tourisme de Rennes Métropole

Few other interesting places to see from Rennes:

• The world famous Mont Saint Michel. There are direct coaches from Rennes downtown.
  
• The old city of Saint Malo which can easily be reached by train or coach. See also this site.
• The old city of Dinan which can easily be reached by coach. The social event should take place there. See also this site (in french).

Rennes

Rennes is the capital of Brittany and is ideally situated at the heart of a dual carriageway network linking Brittany to Paris and Normandy and to the areas south of the Loire divide. The city of Rennes is very pleasant with its parks and gardens and the delightful old town with its faithfully restored streets and squares, colourful traditional timber-framed houses and outstanding buildings by famous architects. A visit to the Musée de Bretagne is recommended to discover what life in Brittany was like in ancient times as well as the present day - there's also a fine art museum in the same building. You'll find a great choice of restaurants, bars and pavement cafés in the old town and one of the largest markets in France is held on Saturday mornings. There you can find all kinds of French delicacies such as cheese, sea food, crêpes and galettes and everything else from flowers to fresh meet.

© D. Gouray/Ville de Rennes

More on Rennes at:
Rennes tourist office web site (getting around, eating out, etc.)

Map of Rennes
Every Saturday morning, you can enjoy one of the most famous market for food (and flowers), Le Marche des Lices.

Campus, exact location and how to get there

The workshop will be held on at the IRISA, INRIA Rennes laboratory which is located on the campus of Beaulieu "Campus de Beaulieu" in Rennes, Brittany (France).

Map of Rennes
(Map source City of Rennes - Fond de plan source Ville de Rennes)

By car

Coming from Paris by motorway, take the entrance to Rennes city center "Rennes-Centre". Follow the signs "Campus de Beaulieu". Once you arrive in Rennes (you will see the sign indicating the city of Rennes) the campus is immediatly on the right.  

Coming from Rennes downtown, take the direction Cesson-Sévigné/Laval. Follow the signs "Campus de Beaulieu". The campus is on the left, a few kilometers away.

On the campus area, the Irisa building is just in front of the parking lot (see the map below).

You can find the itinerary on the Mappy itinerary service. You should write "Allée Henri Poincaré" in Rennes as the arrival address and you will get the proper itinerary.

By train

There are several trains (TGV) on a typical week day from Paris, Lille and Lyon to Rennes. In the following is listed the number of round trips and journey times with a TGV (high speed train):

o    20 TGV Paris-Rennes (2h03)
o    3 TGV Roissy/CdG airport-Rennes (2h58)
o    3 TGV Lille-Rennes (3h45)
o    2 TGV Lyon-Rennes (4h25)
 

For more information see the French SNCF Railway server.

Please notice that before getting into the train you need to punch your ticket in the machines that can be found in the entrance to the platform.
 

From the train station (northern exit "Gare nord"), to reach the campus, you have several possibilities (see the map):

• Bus: line #41express is direct from the train station (just in front of the train station, on the left side) to the campus (week days only). Departures: 7h35, 7h45, 7h55, 8h10 and 8h35. Get out at the "Tournebride" bus stop.
  Back to train station (from "Tournebride" bus stop): 16h09, 16h44, 17h14, 17h45, 18h15 and 18h44.
  

• Subway+bus: take the subway at the Railway station "Gares" towards "J.F. Kennedy" and get out at "République". Just at the exit, in front of the "République" building, you will find the bus stop for the bus lines #6 (direction "Acigné Base de Loisirs"), #16 (direction "Beaulieu Atalante"). Get out at the "Tournebride" bus stop.

• Walk+bus: walk along the J. Janvier avenue up to the Vilaine river. Turn left (Quai Zola): the bus stop (lines #6, #16 or #40express) is 20 m away, close to the Museum ("Pasteur/Musée" bus stop). Get out at "Tournebride" bus stop.

The Irisa building is just in front of the bus stop after crossing a parking lot. It takes about 15-20 minutes to reach the campus from the train station.

Tickets and fares: a 1-hour ticket costs about 1,10 €.

You will find general information about the public transportation service in Rennes (buses and subway) on the Star web server.

Bus & subway timetables
Bus & subway line maps
Journey Planner

By plane

From Rennes-St Jacques airport there are 22 direct daily flights to French and European towns.
From Dinard Airport (70 km from Rennes) there is a daily flight to/from London Stansted by Ryanair.

To reach Irisa from the airport:

• Taxi: It is recommended to take a taxi from the airport, during the day time it costs around 20 € from the airport to the campus.

• Bus: line #57 links St-Jacques to Rennes city center. Buses run from 6h50 to 19h45 about once an hour and every 10-15 minutes during the rush hours. Bus stops "Pommerais" or "Abbé Grimault" are 800 meters away from the airport in the St-Jacques village.
  (travel time around 20 min.)
  Once arrived at "République" which is the terminus of the line 57 (see the map), you have to change for bus lines #6 (direction "Acigné Base de Loisirs"), #16 or #40express (direction "Beaulieu Atalante") that leave just in front of the République building. The total travel time is around 40 min.
  Get out at "Tournebride" bus stop.
  

The Irisa building is just in front of the bus stop after crossing a parking lot.

Accomodation

See the specific page.