Most hotels in Saint-Etienne are less than 15 minutes by car from the Ecole des Mines; so it will never be a problem to reach the workshop in time.
You get off at Châteaucreux station, the main railway-station in Saint-Etienne.
You will land either at Saint-Etienne-Boutheon or at Lyon-Saint Exupéry.
Both airports are far from the city, and you access to Saint-Etienne using a shuttle-service.
In both cases the use of the shuttles is not always easy.
Saint-Etienne information (hotels, restaurants and other tourist-information)