Flock 2016 Toulouse proposal

The Garonne river in Toulouse

Toulouse Cathedral

The main rugby team of Toulouse

Mock-up of the Ariane 5 rocket at the space museum in Toulouse

Mock-up of the Mir space station at the space museum in Toulouse

Concorde, of which two are on exhibit at the Aeronautical museum in Toulouse

A400M on exhibit at the Aeronautical museum in Toulouse

Staff

• Pierre-Yves Chibon
• Emmanuel Seyman
• TODO: please insert your name if you want to join the organizing committee

Organization Volunteers

People who are helping us collect information and contact people for our proposal

• TODO: put your name here

Toulouse

Toulouse is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Midi-Pyrénées region.It lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, 230 km (143 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean, and 680 km (420 mi) from Paris. With 1,250,251 inhabitants at the January 2011 census, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in France, after Paris (12.3 million), Lyon (2.2 million), and Marseille (1.7 million).

Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group (former EADS), ATR and the Aerospace Valley.

The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST), the largest space centre in Europe. Thales Alenia Space, and Astrium Satellites, Airbus Group's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world-renowned university is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229) and, with more than 103,000 students, is the fourth-largest university campus of France after Paris, Lyon and Lille.

The air route between Toulouse Blagnac and Paris Orly is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers in 2014.

Transportation

• Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS) s an airport located 3.6 nautical miles (6.7 km; 4.1 mi) west northwest of Toulouse, and partially in Blagnac, both communes of the Haute-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France.

Airport	Price for return tickets	Duration
TBD	XXX€	Yh
BOS	$1,560	10;00
RDU	$1,620	16:00
JFK	$1,750	18:00
PRG	$200	3:35 (Via Lyon - LYS)

• TLS airport is connected to Toulouse by a tram and a shuttle service bringing you down-town in ~20 minutes.
• Prices for flights are for August, June/July are less expensive. From the US, Turkish Airlines offer much cheaper rates (-40%) but longer stops.

Proposed Venue

Mercure hotel Toulouse

• Hôtel Mercure Toulouse Compans Caffarelli - Boulevard Lascrosses - 8 Esplanade Compans Caffarelli 31000 Toulouse - France
• Near the city center (~15 minutes walking distance)

• We would have those rooms available:
  • 1 lecture room for 200
  • 4 classrooms for 40
• Everything is located in the same building
• Possibility of catering on site
• About 15 minutes walk to the center
• Direct connection to the shuttle for the airport (bus station: Compans Caffarelli)
• Subway station just outside the hotel (subway station: Compans Caffarelli)

ENAC

• Ecole Nationale d'Aviation Civile
• South of the city center (a little further away than the Mercure hotel)

• waiting on an informal agreement/quote.

ENSEEIHT

• ENSEEIHT
• Near to the city center (~15minutes walking distance)
• Hosts the Capitole du Libre in November (FOSS community-oriented event)

• waiting on an informal agreement/quote.

Lodging

Mercure hotel Toulouse

Lodging could be on site ~$120 breakfast included.

Food

Mercure hotel Toulouse

Offers a buffet for lunch at €36 per person.

Social Event

Options include:

• Aeroscopia Aeronautical museum
• Space museum
• Natural history museum

Note: No quotes have been asked for these locations yet and some of these might need an extra transportation to be arrange (likely by bus).

Specialties

• Toulouse vibes behind its rugby team
• The region of Toulouse is well-known for its culinary specialties such as Cassoulet, Duck food as well as Roquefort among others.

Pros & cons

Pros

• Nice city
• Easy to walk into
• Friendly French
• Sunny and warm
• Pretty well-deserved by flights within Europ
• Many restaurants in town to accommodate all preferences (meat, fish, vegetarian or vegan)

Cons

• Requires a connection flight to fly to most of the time (esp. outside Europ)
• Can be warm in summer (but is a dry heat)

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