Wasted an hour of my life today - but decided that, all things considered, I'd only count it as 30 wasted minutes.
A book I need to find for my exposé on the rise of medieval cities and the riots at Chartres in 1210, A. Chèdeville's "Chartres et ses campagnes," isn't at any of the bookstores that I've visited. It is, however, at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Genviève, which is steps away from my apartment.
Libraries are a cornerstone of the French university system; indivdual colleges don't have their own libraries, and internet access isn't a given in houses and apartments like it is in the States, so kids pretty much camp out in the libraries. Every time I've walked past the BSG, I've noted the ginormous line outside the door and the groups of kids milling around, smoking cigarettes and downing espresso during study breaks. I really need this book - the exposé is on Monday - so I juiced up my ipod and m'installed at the end of the line. Forty-five mminutes later...
Apparently, you have to be registered to get into the library. Apparently, there was another queue, which was empty, to get registered. Apparently, you need a passport and a photo to register. Apparently, God hates me; I had neither. I trudged back home, got my passport and a photo for my ID, waited in the empty line for another 10 minutes, and finally was admitted and registered.
It was worth about half the wasted time. The Salle de lecture is absolutely beautiful. (Check it out:) It's really intense; you get a receipt when you enter with the number of your assigned seat, and there isn't really any talking or anything. You have to request the books you want through the computer system, and can't check them out. I wasn't able to stay for more than 15 minutes as I had to meet Jed for coffee, but will plant myself there at 10am on Saturday morning.
Tonight: rehearsal and exposé work.
Tomorrow: Medieval Art field trip to Chartres. (Good timing, no?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment