Vincennes reading room access and opening hours
You should try to plan your visit well in advance: depending on availability, reservation of a place, which is necessary in order to view most of the documents, may need to be done up to three weeks in advance.
Geographical addres
Service historique de la défense
Avenue de Paris
Vincennes, Val-de-Marne (94)
France
Opening hours
- Monday between 1.00 and 5.00 pm;
- Tuesday to Thursday between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm;
- Friday between 1.00 and 4.00 pm;
- Saturday between 9.30 am and 3.00pm (except July and August).
Closure dates (2011)
April 2011 : Saturday 23 april.
June : 2 June to 4 June inclusive. 11 June.
July and August : every Saturday. 14 to 17 July inclusive. 30 July to 21 August inclusive.
December 2011 - January 2012 : 24 December 2011 to 1er January 2012 inclusive.
See also "Exceptional closure" (in french) !
Special conditions regarding consultation
Records must be reserved for collection at least 72 hours in advance and 7 to 10 days in advance for gendarmerie documents (which are held at Fontainebleau and Le Blanc).
Reservations are open for weeks in advance.
Orders for documents from the library collections are picked up at 9.30 am, 11.00 am, 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm each day.
Documents from the picture collections can only be viewed by appointment.
Access to documents on Saturdays is by appointment only.
Help and advices
Permanent staff are always available to give technical help and advice.
Specialist sessions:
- Army library: monday to thursday between 10.00 am and 1.30 pm.
Information and reservations
To reserve documents: +33 (0)1.41.93.20.95 and +33 (0)1.41.93.20.85, Monday (between 13.00 pm an 17.00 pm), Tuesday to Friday (between 9.00 am and 17.00), Friday (between 9.00 am and 16.00).
For information about the reading rooms and registering: +33 (0)1 41 93 22 57.
January 2011