Our venue, Sous Carelles, is located on the edge of the small village of Carelles, just north of Laval in
the Mayenne region west of Paris, France. There are several ways to travel to Sous Carelles and your accommodation in the
Mayenne. For those of you who feel understandably nervous about making the trip alone, we hope the details here will be helpful,
and of course we are happy to guide you as you make your plans. Just ask!
If you are flying to France, we recommend you fly to Paris Charles de Gaulle
airport (or there are smaller local airports such as Dinard if you are coming from Europe, see below for more info on this).
From Charles de Gaulle an efficient way to travel into the city center with luggage is the AirFrance buses. There
is a bus about every 20 minutes that takes you from the airport to Gare Montparnasse (Montparnasse station)
where you can pick up the TGV train to Laval (the direct train journey takes one hour and 40 minutes with picturesque views
of the countryside). French trains are clean and efficient, and almost always run on time! Go to http://www.paris-cdg.com/transportation.html for more information on ground transportation
options. Of course, you might want to spend a few days in Paris before coming on to the Retreat, and you
will find public transport around the city easy to navigate.
From Montparnasse station take an SNCF TGV train to Laval. Go to www.sncf.fr for more information and to make reservations
in advance (click on the small British flag at the top of the page for the website in English). You can have your tickets
mailed to you head of time, or you can pick them up in person at the station when you arrive.You will also find some ticket
windows at Montparnasse station that have English speaking staff.
Once you are in Laval you might want a hire car to help you explore
the area and get to your accommodation. You can rent a car and drive north through Ernee to Carelles. It
should take about 40 to 50 minutes to make the drive at a leisurely pace. Go to www.sous-carelles.co.uk for specific directions to Sous Carelles. Having access to a car will facilitate travel
during free time and enable you to really explore this wonderful area where the Retreat is based.
If you have experience driving in Europe--or a lot of courage--you could rent a car at the Paris
airport and drive to Carelles. Plan on the trip taking at least 5 hours and if you are not used to Parisian drivers,
it may be wise to pick up your car outside the city center!
Car rentals can be secured online in advance. Worldwide
car hire companies such as Hertz www.hertz.com and Avis www.avis.com, have offices in central Laval, as well as European based companies
like Europcar www.europcar.com, although the latter is a short walk up behind Laval station.
If you do not want to pick up a hire car in Laval we can arrange
to meet you at Laval station. Then you can either hire a car in Gorron (about a 10 minute drive from the Retreat) or stay
within walking distance of our Retreat and just immerse yourself in the experience of being away from it all!
For those of you coming from the UK or other parts of Europe and wanting
to bring your car, there are a number of ferry ports you can use, including Cherbourg, Caen (a two hour drive away), St Malo
(about an hour by car), Le Havre or Boulogne. Finally, there is also the Chunnel from England http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcp3main. You could also consider airlines such as Ryanair and
fly to smaller local airports such as Dinard, and pick up a hire car: http://www.travel-library.com/airports/europe/france/dinard/dinard_st_malo_airport.html
