Villeneuve d'Ascq

Access:
A1 towards Paris (Lille-Lesquin airport)
A22 towards Ghent, Antwerp and Amsterdam,
A25 towards London via the Eurotunnel
A27 towards Brussels, Cologne and Düsseldorf

The Mayor is Gérard Caudron (Socialist Party).

He is also a European Member of Parliament, President of the European Movement and President of the assocition "Citizen of Europe".

Other key figures in the town's history:

Professor GABILLARD, invent or of the VAL, or Light Automated Vehicle, the world's first fully-automated metro. This was the result of co-operation between  Matra Transport and USTL. Chosen by Orly, Toulouse, and Rennes, it is now being exported on an international scale to Chicago, Taïwan, Seoul, Barcelona and Turin.
Mr. DELEBARRE, creator of the Chti d'Ascq cake.
Mr. NOTARDONATO, creator of the "Musée de l'Ecole" (The Museum of Schools), awarded the "Hospitality" award in April 1999 for original ideas and tourist projects.
Mr. BRUGGEMAN, behind the project for brining 3 mills to Villeneuve d'Ascq and creator of the "Musée des Moulins" (Museum of Mills) inaugurated in 1995 (Regional Association of the Friends of Mills).
Virginie PLATTEAU and Caroline CHIMOT,  rhythmic and sports gymnastics champions

Yohann DELATTRE, international handball player (goalkeeper of the French team, etc.)


Laurent DESBIENS, cycling
Sarah PITKOWSKI (ranked 7th in France for tennis) and Nathalie DECHY, tennis champions

The LEYS brothers, world gas balloon champions.

Clubs and associations:
- Handball : HBCV, in the 1st division.
- Basketball : Handibasket team from Villeneuve d'Ascq in the 1st division; ESBVA, women's team in the 2nd division.
- The most sporting town in France 96-97 (Award by the "l'Equipe" newspaper).
- The most hospitable town for disabled athletes in France, 1999.

Specialities:
gastronomy 
Le Carré d'Ascq: cheese created by Mr. Parsy, a farmer from Ascq ;
The Ch'ti and the Quicampois : delicious pastry specialities;
The Euro and the Bouchée du Héron: outstanding chocolates;
Le Pavé d'Ascq: tender ham from the Meplon companies;
Beer lovers will enjoy the "Villeneuvoise", created by Mr. Dubus.

industry and technology
The bio-chip card, memorising health data;
The first miniaturised laser for surgery;
The CO2 laser scalpel;
Researchers from Villeneuve d'Ascq are also at the cutting edge of research into the areas of cancer treatment and artificial intelligence, etc. 

Le Musée d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art)
Created by the architect Roland Simounet, the Musem of Modern Art houses the prestigious Masurel donation, including works by Braque, Van Dongen, Laurens, Léger, Miro, Modigliani, Picasso, etc.
In parallel to this permanent collection, the museum organises temporary exhibitions throughout the year: monographs of various artists or thematic exhibitions devoted to modern and contemporary art. 
It also offers numerous services to the public: educational and cultural services, a documentation centre, a bookshop / boutique and a café.
Open daily, except Tuesday, from 10.00 - 18.00 hrs. (in summer, on Sundays and public holidays, 10.00 - 19.00 hrs.)

The Mills and their Museum 
An oil and a flour mill from the 18th century, plus a water mill from 1902 were acquired and restored by the ARAM (Regional Association for the Friends of Mills).
Symbols of Flanders, the mills are one of the attractions of the town. The Museum includes a small building housing a diesel engine from a flour mill in Hazebrouck, dating from 1939, plus two millwheels for cereals, dating from the 1920s. The technical features of the wind and water mills are represented by plans, separate elements, and the installation of a water mill with its wheel and its motor mechanism.
 

The "Archéoparc"
Currently under construction, this 6-hectare park proposes the discovery of our ancestors' habitat in chronological form. Houses from the Iron Age have already been reconstituted and one from the Neolithic period is now being built. Once completed, the park will retrace nearly 6,000 years of evolution, from the Neolithic period to the end of the Middle Ages.
 

The François Mitterand Science Forum
4000 m² dedicated to a better understanding of our world today, marked by science and technology. It aims to provide easy access for all to information essential to understand the evolution of our society.

La Rose des Vents (Wind Rose), National Theatre
Boulevard Van Gogh, information: 03.20.91.02.02 
Theatre, contemporary dance, flamenco, puppets, video, humour, etc.
The Rose des Vents holds over 30 different shows a year.

Scientific
The University campus
Organised around the science complex, Lille university is attended by nearly 35,000 students and includes numerous research laboratories. 
La cité numérique (The digital centre)
(rue Jean Jaurès) 
This is a "high-tech" complex for image processing (and in particular for the photographs in the 3 Suisses catalogue).
Le centre Météo France (The French Meteorological centre)
(rue Elisée reclus) 
This covers meteorological activities for 4 economic regions: Champagne-Ardenne, Haute-Normandie, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie. 
It also produces weather reports for air traffic.
François Mitterand Science Forum
(see above)

Sport 
Internationally renowned, the Stadium Nord, with a capacity of 20,000 and 15 hectares of installations, hosts large-scale events and meetings in addition to the annual athletics meeting.

Babylon Nautical Centre
(with artificial waves)

Villeneuve d'Ascq also has: 16 football pitches, 1 rugby pitch, 24 sports halls, over 50 tennis courts, 1 sailing centre, 2 golf courses, 2 squach courts, 1 bowling alley, 1 skate park, 1 jodo centre and numerous other installations throughout the town.

- 2 universities: Science and Technology (USTL), Social Sciences, Arts (University Charles de Gaulle, Lille III),
- 1 University Institute of Technology (IUTA) 
- 200 public and private laboratories, of which 31 are associated to the National Scientific Research Centre,
- Research institutes on a European and international scale such as the IEMN (Northern France Institute for Electronics and Microelectronics)
- 2,300 researchers in various sectors: mathematics and modeling, electrical engineering, electronics, micro-electronics and optical electronics, information technology, molecular chemistry, biological production, biological messaging, robotics, mechanics and civil engineering, textiles, transport, the environment, etc.,
- 7 schools of engineering: ECL (Central School of Lille), IAAAL (Lille Agricultural and Foodstuffs Institute) ENSCL (Lille Higher National School of Chemistry) EUDIL (Lille University Engineering School), ENIC (New School of Communications Engineers) ESTIT (Higher School of Industrial Technology and Textiles), IESP (Production Engineers and Production Systems).
- 1 school of architecture,
- the "Atelier 2" studio for the plastic arts. 

50,000 students, of which 23,000 are at the USTL

Activity complexes:
Over 2,800 companies are located in Villeneuve d'Ascq, of which 88% are in the tertiary sector (except the information technology sector), and 11% in the secondary sector. 

Main companies:
- Transpole; bodywork and mechanical workshop; 1,500 to 1,600 persons
- Décathlon Campus; research, development, training centre, shop, Décathlon international; 1,400 persons
- Trois Suisses France; mail order; 841 persons
- Norpac; construction and public works; 803 persons
- Auchan; large-scale distribution; 639 persons
- GMB (Cora); large-scale distribution; 300 persons
- EMP Fourlegnie: manufacture of packing materials and disposable tableware; 270 persons
- Cadbury; manufacture of chocolate; 250 persons
- Colas Nord Picardie; road construction and co-ordination of construction centres; 250 persons
- Bonduelle; vegetable conditioning; 236 persons
- OCP répartition; distribution of pharmaceutical products; 185 persons
- Serviascq; services for the textile distribution sector; 165 persons
- SA Boet; industrial sound insulation; 130 persons

The Villeneuve motto:
" the la cité de l'innovation "
(the city of innovation)

www.mairie-villeneuvedascq.fr

Tourist Office: http://asso.nordnet.fr/
ot-villeneuvedascq

Municipal Service for Hospitality and Promotion of the Town (SMAP)
smap@mairie-villeneuvedascq.fr 
(this centralises all information on Villeneuve d'Ascq)

www.tourisme.fr

Its population is 70,000 inhabitants.
Its conurbation (Lille métropole) consists of 87 communes and 1,067,563 inhabitants over a surface area of 612 km2

Villeneuve d'Ascq is a new town created in 1970. It was born by uniting the former areas of Ascq and Flers.
Its districts are therefore the result of recent, innovative architecture (except, of course, its more ancient, historical centres). 
The university centre of the Lille conurbation, Villeneuve d'Ascq is characterised by a young population and an economic fabric strongly oriented towards new technologies.

Museum of Modern Art
1, allée du Musée
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq
Tel : +33 (0)3 20 05 42 46
www.nordnet.fr/mam

Open daily, except Tuesday, from 10.00 - 18.00 hrs. (in summer, on Sundays and public holidays, 10.00 - 19.00 hrs.)

ARAM
Regional Association of the Friends of Mills
rue Albert Samain
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq
Tel : +33 (0)3 20 05 49 34

Both the mills and the museum are open every Sunday afternoon from April to October. For groups, please contact us.

Archeoparc
Rue du 8 mai 1945
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq

Open on the first and third Sunday afternoons from April to October. 
Group visits on request 

The Science Foroum
François Mitterand Centre
1 Place de l'Hôtel de Ville
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq
Tel :+33 (0)3 20 19 36 36 

La Rose des Vents, National Theatre
Boulevard Van Gogh
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq
Tel : 03.20.91.02.02
e-mail : larosedesvents@infonie.fr

Centre nautique de Babylone,
rue du Pavé bleu
59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq
Tél : 03.20.45.94.52