Research Begins . . . and Ends

Monday was the day I was going to start my research. After a week in town, I felt pretty well settled, and I was getting restless. So Monday morning I started packing my bag, and decided to check the hours one last time for the Bibliothèque Nationale. Imagine my frustration when I saw that the library is closed from September 7th through September 20th. (Why they close in September, when people are actually around, rather than August, when everyone deserts the city for les vacances, escapes me.) Of course, I was also relieved that I hadn't wasted a trip down there only to be turned away, which is my default for these kinds of things.

So instead of going to a library Monday, I went to Métro République, where I got a hold of a Passe Navigo (equivalent to a CharlieCard, basically a metro pass you can tap rather than swipe or insert) with my picture on it and everything. Sweet!

Tuesday, I picked out the next library I would go to - the Archives Nationales - and felt good enough about the mental work I had done to devote a significant part of the afternoon walking with Maggie and Panda to a dog store in the 11th, where we procured a bag of dog food and some chew bones. Success!

2nd Blog Challenge: Name all 12 languages in which information for this dog food is provided

Finally, today, Wednesday, I got up "early" (7:30!) and went to the Archives Nationales, just four stops away on la ligne 11. After being shot around the lobby as if in a pinball machine (security to information desk to vestiary to registration desk) I finally landed in the salle des inventaires - basically an entire room acting as the archive's card catalog. Apparently you can't register for a pass until you've confirmed that the documents you want to view actually reside in the Archives Nationales, and you can't confirm that until you've found the cote, or call number, in the salle des inventaires and consulted with the research librarians up there.

The Archives Nationales share a beautiful 18th-century building with the Musée de l'Histoire de France

Full of energy and optimism, I entered the salle des inventaires, only to find the computer bank unhelpful (same interface as you get online, lacks search capability, can't wait to post a rant about French website design). Thanks to the bibliographies of several pieces of secondary literature, I knew the papers of Comtesse Greffulhe, née princesse Elisabeth de Camaran-Chimay (an important salon host and patron) can be found in the Archives Nationales, but I didn't know where.

There she is!

Luckily, I found a citation in a footnote of a book I had scanned and used that to go to the appropriate bookshelf in the room, where I found the inventaire, or finding aid, for the Greffulhe collection. Once I had copied down the numbers of all the folders in the collection I found interesting, I went to the research librarian to ask if I could now (finally) register. The answer was no. We first had to check to see if the materials I wanted to consult required permission. They did. So I had to fill out a permission form, which will be sent to the Greffulhe estate. I will hear back from the Archives Nationales by mail (or email, I'm not sure which) in at most two months. (!!!??!!?) But maybe sooner.

So with less than two weeks down, I'm 0 for 2 on research attempts. Tomorrow I'll try contacting a few private foundations and archives, hopefully with better luck.