Come with me on a little research trip to Paris!
I had the opportunity to go on a very historical adventure, not exactly related to my witching novel, but still very much inspiring! To write my thesis on the history of science (the history of biology mostly), I went to Paris to go into an archive and work with some rather old documents.
Since my blog is a rather private project, I don’t want to disclose too much detail about this more official work I’m doing (I literally don’t know if I’m allowed to), but I still wanted to share this.
It moved something inside of me to drive into such a historical city in the heart of Europe all on my own to explore a part of our history. I live near Aachen, so after a 3 hour train ride, I had arrived! What a luxury!
While watching the windows and rooftops around me from my bedroom window, or while riding the metro, I felt a little bit like moving from scene to scene in a novel I do not know the ending yet. In this mood, of course I went back to my favourite bookshop, “Shakespeare and Company.” This is not an advertisement, I really just love it there!
Two days I spent in a rather large archive, working through documents about 100 years old. I read handwritings, and type-writer documents that were beginning to blur, and I was slowly reconstructing thoughts and moments in my head. Sometimes, I felt as if I was stumbling upon things that did not concern me. Humans can make such a mess, and often that is what we remember them by!
I am getting ever closer to really calling myself a historian of science, and I am so excited about it. Also, as readers of my blog might know, this is not my first time travelling alone through Europe on a quest to an archive or a museum, but Paris alone was still a bit overwhelming.
I already knew the city and I even speak some French, but I got lost more often than I would have hoped. Also, my hotel was in a more questionable part of the city, which made it even more authentic. I’m glad I didn’t meet these in the dark!
I feel inspired and grateful, and still a little bit intimidated. My witch wants me to take her back to that city soon, to sit in a nice café and write her novel instead of my thesis. Should I grant her that?
I think a huge aspect of our life is about the narratives we leave behind for others to find, and for the world to make sense of.
Mistress witch writes 