Studio Escalier

HOME

MISSION

3-MONTH INTENSIVE COURSES

MONTHLY PROGRAMS

FACULTY

FACILITIES

LODGING and LIFE

TRAVEL

FAQS

RESOURCES

HOW TO APPLY

PRICES and PAYMENT

SCHOLARSHIPS and AID

MAP of FRANCE
showing
Argenton-Chateau

Click here

Travel to and from Argenton-Chateau; Visa and Passport Questions; Day-trip and Weekend Itineraries

Individual travel options and incoming travel itineraries will be discussed with accepted applicants.

2008 Group Arrival Dates and Location

APRIL in PARIS - 2008 DRAWING PROGRAM students are advised that the first class meeting is 2:00 PM, Sunday, APRIL 20, 2008 at the Gericault Studio, on rue des Martyrs in Paris.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 SUMMER INTENSIVE students are advised that the group arrival time and date is 4:00PM, Thursday, MAY 15, 2008, at the Angers/St Laud TGV station.

SUMMER Intensive students should arrive in Angers no later than 4:00PM for pick-up and transit to Argenton-Chateau.

A hired shuttle/taxi service will meet arriving Summer Intensive students at the Angers/St Laud TGV station, for immediate transport to Argenton-Chateau. ( Shuttle costs 20 euros per person, payable after arrival).

Students wishing to rent a car for the season, or just for entry, should pick up their car in Angers, and follow the group shuttle. All the major European car agencies are represented inside the train station (Hertz, Avis, Europcar).

Air and Ground Links to Argenton-Chateau

Students are strongly advised to arrive and exit via Charles de Gaulle airport, and to take a TGV train directly from CDG airport to Angers/St Laud station. It is the easiest, quickest and least expensive way to reach us.

If you fly into Paris-Charles de Gaulle, direct TGV service (bullet train) runs several times daily from Paris-CDG to Angers (departing 08:41, 13:38, 18:24, 21:09). Angers/St Laud TGV station is the closest one to Argenton-Chateau. (50 min. by car)

Click SNCF.com to make TGV train reservations or check schedules. ( French language site )

Type AEROPORT CDG 2 TGV as your departing station, and ANGERS as the arriving station.
(You cannot book the Airport -->Angers train on the English language site).

If you depart for Angers from Paris itself, you will depart from Gare de Montparnasse (PARIS MONTPARNASSE 1 et 2).

For other trips inside Europe, it is useful to recall that Argenton-Chateau is 1 to 1.5 hours by car from four major cities: Nantes, Angers, Tours, and Poitiers. The three highlighted cities also have regional/ international airports with daily inexpensive service to/from London-Gatwick, London-Stansted and other European cities. (Shannon, Dublin, Paris, etc)

Poitiers and Tours offer daily service to London-Stansted, but Nantes will have the most flexible schedule of intra-European flights.

Final Exit from Argenton-Chateau - Group and Individual

Please do NOT schedule your exit flight on the final Friday of class. All students have a two-night "cushion" after the final Thursday of the program, for cleaning, packing and a farewell Friday evening.

All students must take time to return their assigned housing to Studio Escalier in the condition it was received.

We request that all students plan to vacate their program housing no later than 11:00 AM on the Saturday after the last day of class. (For 25 euros per night/per individual, students and guests may remain in program housing through the weekend, but MUST exit no later than 11:00 AM on the Monday after the last day of class.)

NOTE: The group exit shuttle is always scheduled to leave Argenton-Chateau at 8:00 AM on the Saturday after the last day of class, arriving Angers - Gare SNCF at 9:00 AM.

All students pay individually for their own exit from Argenton-Chateau (whether by group shuttle on Saturday at 8 AM, or later by taxi, rental car, Monday public bus, etc.) The group exit shuttle to Angers on Saturday costs approximately 105 euros total. The cost is paid in cash upon arrival, and split equally between all riders, regardless of their number of bags.

Monthly Residents should refer to their application brochure for exit dates and information.

Passport/ Visa/ Immigration Requirements

All applicants are asked to provide valid, current passport information at the time of application.

U.S. citizens should not need a visa of any kind. Any ordinary visitor from the US, Europe, Canada, UK, Australia or New Zealand is granted an informal three month tourist visa in France just by walking off the plane. Other foreign nationals should contact the French consulate in their country for current information.

U.S. resident aliens need to provide proof of current international travel rights, or proof of their previous application to INS for all appropriate travel documents, at time of application. They are advised to apply for travel documents and visas at least eight months in advance of their departure date. (i.e. before you even apply to our program). The school cannot be held responsible for any financial loss incurred due to difficulties with the INS.

For everyone's protection, a short questionnaire -- including passport and medical information -- will be completed by all students and provided to local French government, police and emergency services.

Advice on Planning Day-trips and "Studio Weekend" Trips Out of Town

Note: Our new weekly studio schedule is Sunday through Thursday, with Fridays and Saturdays off.
Suggested day-trip and "studio weekend" itineraries out of Argenton-Chateau can be found at the bottom of this page.

ALWAYS check for the most current bus and train schedules online, or at the bus stop/train station.

For Bressuire, Mauleon, Maulevrier, Cholet and Thouars, refer to RDS bus schedules, click RDS - Reseau Deux-Sevres.

All RDS buses cost 1.50 euros one-way (e.g., a daytrip to Bressuire is 3 euros round-trip; Mauleon, Maulevrier or Cholet is 6 euros round-trip.)

For Angers, Saumur, Tours, Nantes, Paris and elsewhere, click SNCF.com.

TER local buses and trains do NOT require advance reservations. The TER train-fare from Cholet to Angers is 9.50 euros one way. Pay for your ticket at the guichet, or pay the conductor directly.

TGV bullet-train tickets ALWAYS require advance reservations. TGV ticket prices are highly variable.
In order to get the lowest fare, reserve online as far in advance as possible.

TGV reservations can be made or changed at the SNCF train station in Bressuire, if you prefer to book in person.

Advice on TAXI Reservations

Contact "Taxis du Chateau", 6 route de Bressuire, 79150 Argenton-Chateau - Tel: 05 49 65 71 90

Day-trips 1) and 2) require no advance taxi reservations. All Saturday daytrips and "studio weekend" getaways -- leaving Thursday evening, or early Friday morning, with a Saturday evening return-- always require the student to hire a private taxi to connect them to a nearby bus or train station.

Local taxis are NOT on-call 24 hrs/day, and need to be booked in advance. Please write down your name, address and itinerary on a piece of paper, walk over to their dispatch office, and hand it to them (remember: use 24 hr time, i.e. 13h00, 19h45, etc.)

The dispatcher can closely estimate how much it will cost, if you ask. ("J'aimerais un devi, SVP")

Important: Taxi reservations must be made Monday thru Friday, and preferably at least a week in advance.
Cancellations or changes must be made at least 24 hrs in advance. You will be billed for missed connections.

Taxi rates can be considerably higher before 7AM, after 7PM, and on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

It is smart to share the cost of the taxi ride, and students should expect to organize themselves and their trips with one another.

Easiest Day-trip and "Studio Weekend" Getaway Itineraries

1) For a Friday farmer's market trip to Thouars: outgoing Ligne 30 bus service leaves Argenton-Chateau at 9:25 AM on Friday, arriving at 9:45 AM at Thouars-Place de Boel.

The normal Friday return bus leaves Thouars-Place de Boel at 12:10 PM.

2) For a Friday day-trip to Bressuire, Mauleon, Maulevrier, Cholet or Angers: outgoing Ligne 43 bus service leaves Argenton-Chateau at 7:00 AM on Friday, arriving 7:42 AM at Bressuire-Gare SNCF.

Connecting Ligne 11/14 bus service to Cholet-Gare SNCF leaves Bressuire at 7:50 AM, making stops in Mauleon and Maulevrier along the way, arriving in Cholet at 8:40 AM. From Cholet, you can take the 8:48 local train to Angers for about 10 euros one way, arriving Angers by 9:30 AM.

The only Friday return connection to Argenton-Chateau requires you leave Angers at 3:59 PM, arriving Cholet at 4:44 PM.
Leave Cholet by Ligne 11/14 bus at 4:50 PM, arriving Bressuire-Gare SNCF at 6:00PM. Leave Bressuire-Gare SNCF at 6:10 PM.

This outgoing itinerary also offers the most inexpensive weekend trip: you could stay overnight on Friday in Angers, or go to Paris for the night, and return on Saturday via the Ligne 17 bus from Angers to Vihiers, then taxi home from there.

3) For a Saturday day-trip to Saumur, hire an early morning taxi to Thouars train station. TER local train or bus service leaves Thouars at 8:01 AM on Saturdays, allowing students to visit the traditional Saumur farmer's market, held every Saturday morning. (20 minutes by car, plus 30 minutes by train or bus.)

The earliest return bus to Thouars leaves Saumur at 1:30 PM. There are two or three other return trains on Saturdays, but the final return train leaves Saumur at 9:35 PM, arriving Thouars 10:05 PM. Reserve a taxi to get you home from Thouars.

4) Alternatively, for a Friday, Saturday, or "studio weekend" in Angers: hire a morning taxi to Vihiers bus station (20 minutes north). Outgoing Ligne 17 bus service leaves Vihiers twice daily, at 7:00 AM and at half past noon on Friday and Saturday morning, arriving one hour later at Angers- Gare SNCF.

The last Friday return bus leaves Angers at 5:30 PM, the last Saturday return leaves at 6 or 6:30 PM. Reserve a taxi to get you home from Vihiers.

5) For a Friday day-trip or "studio weekend" in Tours, hire a Friday morning taxi to Thouars train station. You can leave Thouars for Saumur at 6:53 AM by train, or as late as 10:24 AM by TER bus. Then go Saumur --> Tours by TER train. (20 min by taxi, plus 40 minutes by train/bus, plus 30 minutes by train.)

You should return by train/bus on Friday or Saturday afternoon via Saumur-Thouars, arriving 7:10 PM, and then taxi home.

6) For a "studio weekend" in Nantes or Paris, hire a Friday morning taxi to Vihiers bus station. You should go from Vihiers to Angers by Ligne 17 bus, then go Angers --> Nantes or Angers--> Paris-Montparnasse by TGV train. (15 min by taxi, plus 1 hour by bus, plus 30 minutes to Nantes, or plus 1.5 hrs to Paris.)

You should return by train/bus on Saturday via Angers-Vihiers, or by train via St Pierre des Corps-Saumur-Thouars, and then taxi home.

The last Saturday bus to Vihiers arrives at 7:30 PM, the last train to Thouars arrives at 10:05 PM.