Transport - Florence to Paris

By train.  You can travel from Milan to Paris Gare de Lyon with direct trains (travel time around 7 hours). There are 2 trains per day with the italian Trenitalia (Frecciarossa) and 2 trains per day with the french SNCF (TGV). Check the corresponding websites for more information.

By flight. There are direct flights from Florence (Vueling, to Paris Orly and Air France, to Paris Charles de Gaulle) and from Pisa (EasyJet, to Paris Orly). Paris Orly is the closest airport to the Institut d'Optique, but both airports are well connected with public transportation.

Transport - Paris to Institut d'Optique (Palaiseau)

The conference will take place at the following address: Insitut d'Optique Graduate School, 2 Augustin Fresnel, 91120 Palaiseau.  

To go from Paris to the IOGS with public transportation, you have to take the RER B line (blue) direction Saint Rèmy les Chevreuse or Massy-Palaiseau. You then have 2 options: 1) Stop in Massy-Palaiseau and take the bus 4606 towards Christ de Saclay. Buses run often especially in the morning and in the evening (every 5/10 minutes), but can be very crowded. The closest bus stop to the institut is either Ferme de la Vauve or Place Marguerite Perey. 2) Stop in Lozere with the RER B and then walk to the IOGS. It takes around 20 minutes but you have to climb a few hundred steps. You're warned! 

For any information about travel routes, tickets and live information you should download the Bonjour RATP app. You can also buy tickets and forfaits through the app, and use your phone to validate the tickets.

In case you need to go directly from the airport Paris Orly to the IOGS (or viceversa), you may consider taking the bus 5154. It will bring you directly to the IOGS (stops Ferme de la Vauve or Place Marguerite Perey) in about 1 hour.

Accomodation

Here there are some tips to find the best accomodation according to your needs.

1) If you want to stay in Paris, you should search close to the RER B stations to minimize the travel time to the IOGS. The best options are close to Denfert-Rocherau or Cité Universitaire (south Paris). Reaching the Institut d'Optique typically takes 1 hour.

@Denfert-Rochereau: Solar Hotel (https://www.solarhotel.fr/) ; Hotel du Midi (https://www.midi-hotel-paris.com/fr/)

@Cité Universitaire (~10 min walking distance): Virginia Hotel (https://www.hotelvirgina.com/)

2) If you want to stay halfway between Institut d'Optique and Paris, the best option is Massy-Palaiseau. There are many opportunities to sleep in Massy.

From Massy, you can directly take the bus to the Institut (see the previous paragraph) and you can reach Paris in ~20 minutes with the RER B. Other stops along the RER B in between Paris and Massy-Palaiseau could work as well (Bourg la Reine, Antony, La Croix de Berny, ecc..).

3) If you want to wake up 10 minutes before the start of the talks, you can also find hotels very close to the Institute, on the plateau de Saclay (for instance Appart Hotel Adagio Palaiseau Saclay). There are not many activities at evenings on the plateau, however, a few bars have recently opened. Please also note that the conference dinner on Thursday evening will be in Paris.