Transportation

Flights

There are direct flights to Pointe a Pitre from the following places: Marseille-Bordeaux, Lyon-Paris, Caracas, Cayenne (connection from Belem), Miami, Montreal, San Juan de Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Saint Martin. Notice that travel from New York can be done via Puerto Rico, Miami or Saint Martin. Participants coming from South America may travel via Caracas or Cayenne.

The corresponding airlines are the following: Air France, Air Outre Mer, Air Canada, American Airlines, LIAT.

May and the beginning of June correspond to the low season for Air France and Air Outre Mer. Economical flights (round trip from Paris for instance) are in the 3500 FF range. Better rates are available if many people fly together from Paris. Organizers of the school will manage to get block seats with better rates --- on a plane leaving Paris May 30 --- provided participants register long enough in advance (note that participants coming from Europe have to travel through Paris). The price of a round trip Caracas-Pointe a Pitre in 1992 at this time of the year (APEX fare) is 1750 FF. The price of a round trip Montreal-Pointe a Pitre is about 2500 FF.

Participants are warned that reservations have to be made a very long time in advance. This is already obvious for people coming, for instance, from Montreal on Air Canada since there is only one plane per week (on Saturdays). However, and despite the fact that there are at least three jumbo jets per day flying from Paris (either from Orly or Charles de Gaulle) to Pointe a Pitre, these planes are often booked more than five months in advance.

Local transportation

A minibus from the hotel will collect the participants at the airport and take them to Saint Francois. Several car rentals are of course available at the airport. The usual price for a small car, one week, illimited mileage and including insurance is in the range 1200-1500 FF. There is also a possibility of renting a car directly at the reception desk of the hotel but this is slightly more expensive.

Although participants do not need a car since they can stay all the time in the neighbourhood of the hotel, it can be a good idea to rent one -- especially if several people can agree to share it -- in order to take advantage of the break between 10.45 am and 4 pm to explore the area or to have lunch somewhere else. Many nice and isolated seaside places are reachable by car in less than 20 minutes from the hotel. It takes about 30 minutes (by car) to reach Point \`a Pitre and another 30 minutes to reach the tropical forest situated on Basse Terre (cf. the section entitled ``Miscalleneous'').

There are buses running every 30 minutes in the direction of Saint Francois (the hotel is in an isolated place four kilometers south of Saint Francois) or in the direction of Pointe a Pitre.