Travel to Chooz

Be aware! This information started from ~6year old memories, updated here and there as I get the chance. Contributions/corrections welcome!

Where to eat

Where to stay:

If you have to stay in a hotel, FAX or e-mail is probably the best way to get a reservation.

1. If you're lucky, you'll get a room in the Château.  You'll be provided with sheets, but bring your own towel. (no, it's not a Douglas Adam's joke)   There's a full kitchen in the Chateau, so you'll probably want to get some coffee and baguettes for breakfasts, and visit a local hypermarket for supplies.
2. Hotel le val Sainte Hilaire, Givet, is another possibility.  It's right on the riverfront on the side of Givet opposite the Chateau.  Restaurants within easy walking distance.  I've stayed here many times, it's very nice.  Run by Mr. Dardenne.
   
• Address: 7 Quai des Fours, 08600 GIVET
  
• Phone: +33 (0)3 24.42.38.50  FAX: +33 (0)3 24.42.07.36 
  
• email: hotel.val.saint.hilaire@wanadoo.fr
3. Le Reflets Jaunes.  Stayed here a couple of times, largish rooms, parking a bit awkward.
   
• Address: 1, rue du Général de Gaulle, 08600 GIVET
• Phone: +33 (0)3.24.42.85.85  FAX: +33 (0)3.24.42.85.86
• email: reflets.jaunes@wanadoo.fr

Getting to Givet

1. The easiest method is to fly into Brussels, rent a car, and drive to Givet the drive takes between 1 and 1.5 hours, mostly depending on morning rush-hour traffic near Brussels.
   
2. One can also fly into Paris (CDG, not Orly), rent a car and drive to Givet;  the trip is quite a bit longer, and a substantial amount of driving is on small secondary or tertiary roads.  However, there are some advantages:  you drive right through the heart of the Champaign region, and a short side trip can give you a great opportunity to try some wonderful champagne at the wineries. Also, it's very difficult to drive from Givet to CDG in time to leave on a flight to the US, so one is forced, forced I tell you, to overnight in Paris before you leave. Such hardships are near unendurable, but somehow we manage. 
3. Rumor has it that the drive from CDG to Givet is faster if you first drive toward Brussels.   I've tried this a couple of times, and it does let you avoid traffic around Paris:  A1 toward Lille/Brussels, then A2 toward Brussels..changes to A7 when entering Belgium, A15/E42 toward Liege, E411 toward Namur, then follow the directions from Brussels.  You can also get from the A15 to Givet more directly by going through Phillipeville, but it's a bit more complex.  Roughly 3-3.5 hours from CDG to Givet. 
4. An alternative is to fly to Amsterdam (Schiphol airport) and drive to Givet.  This is an easy drive (all major highway) , but it takes about 3 hr. 
   
5. There is train service from Givet into Belgium, but you can't use it.  It's a tourist steam train that runs weekly during the high season up to Dinant.
6. To take the train from CDG to Givet is painful: first one has to take the RER  into Paris to Gare du Nord, then walk a couple of blocks to Gare d'Est.  Then by SNCF to Charleville-Mézières (~ 8 trains daily, ~ hourly in the middle of the day,  last departs at 18:00).  Best bet once you get to Charleville-Mézières is to have someone from Givet drive down and pick you up (~2 hours round trip, IIRC), but if you insist on taking the local train to Givet, it's run by TER and runs ~hourly and takes about an hour to drop you off at the Givet station, about 2 km from the hotel.  There are no taxis, but it's not a bad walk in good weather.