Getting there and taking inventory

Transportation to and from any airport:
www.parisshuttle.com
25 euros each way per person but will give
discounts for each additional person included in your reservation.

This reservation can be paid for via credit or debit card on their website. The shuttle picks you up at the airport and delivers you to the Cite Internationale des Arts door with all of your luggage or vice versa. Its much better than a cab since there is no need to get local currency at the airport and it will be flat fee regardless of the traffic. For short excursions within Europe where luggage isn't an issue there are numerous other options (SNCF, Easy Jet, Eurostar). Transportation to and from an airport is an average of 15 euros each way. Cabs can vary between 30 and 100 euros.

Please note there is no one at the Cite reception to check you in if you arrive on a Saturday or Sunday.

The inventory of items provided by the Cite des Arts is carefully reviewed upon arrival and departure from the atelier. There are additional tools and homewares available to Virginia Atelier residents that are not the property of the Cite des Arts. To maintain this inventory for the use of Virginia Atelier residents these additional housewares MUST BE STORED IN BOXES MARKED 'PROPERTY OF THE VIRGINIA ATELIER #8317". The box or boxes must be stored on the shelves in the storeroom of atelier #8317. If this doesn't happen there is no guarentee these housewares will be available for the next Virginia resident and replacing some of these simple necessities (like a corkscrew!) can be costly. Traveling with simple tools can be tiresome as well with new airline restrictions and security problems always in flux.

The cite des arts is responsible for providing the resources listed immediately below.
The Cite des Arts provides:
clean BED linens every two weeks. (watch for the reminder notice. It is posted next to the elevator on the ground floor. Fold your used linens and take them down the back stairs to the first etage where you'll see a staff member with a table set up. Be prepared to tell her the atelier number in French or just take a note with it written on it.)
a long pillow that needs replacing
set of dishes and glassware
set of simple eating utensils
a single bed. an extra one is available for a supplmental fee
simple desk with drawer
two armless chairs for the table
simple table for two
two reading lamps
wooden stool
telephone for in house use only
bookshelf
2 upholstered chairs
easel on request
floor lamp with dimmer switch
laundry drying rack (folding style)

Virginia Atelier inventory:
All of these things are made possible through generous contributions of previous Virginia Atelier residents... most studios at the cite do not offer all of these additonal convienences though some are equipped with additional luxeries such as toaster ovens!

electric clock radio
two skillets and a few extra pots and pans
extra towels
woolite
Ajax
steel wool
extra pillow (bring your own pllow case)
stove top espresso maker
Moulenex drip coffee maker
two nice wine glasses
extra cutlery (the set with the black handles)
two additional steak knives
a cheap corkscrew
2 collanders
potato peeler
wooden spoon
two large kitchen spoons
whisk
glass cutting board
plastic cutting board
red thermos with two cups
many English and a few french paperbacks
a 12"x 12" mirror
a few area rugs
wobbly ikea style coffee table (that is taken apart and stored in closet between Virginia Atelier residents)
a working fan
four saw horses and three wooden tabletops
hand saw
hammer
small brads
plastic pushpins
broom
dustpan
hand broom
full length mirror

Wishlist:
can opener
cordless telephone with voicemail (an L.A. piano virtuoso here for a year bought one for less than 50 euros and it works great! Still, you need to pay for a separate phone line if you want to make out of the cite calls in Paris or anywhere else. The answering machine/cordless works great for incoming calls forwarded from the reception downstairs)
bathroom scales (for weighing luggage and packages to be shipped home)
more coathangers
additonal pillows and pillowcases. The one the cite provides is "european" in design
and isn't comfortable for everyone.

Things you may want to bring:
leatherman tool
three to two prong adaptor
transformer that will work with circular inset socket
blue painter's tape (there is only one wall residents are allowed to "work on". The other walls are supposed to be exactly the same as upon your arrival. Blue painters tape can easily be removed from the wall without leaving any residue.)
extra towels
bungee cords for the shower if you like to drip dry your clothing
earplugs and whatever else you may need to help you sleep (traffic can be very loud and if the artist that lives above you is a musician or throws loud parties or listens to loud music...)
xerox of all your ID and credit cards and faculty ID ((there are more pick pockets in Paris than ever)