France - 1.5

This entry is titled as such because I am in between activities at the moment. Yes, that means I managed to finish my work at the museum on Wednesday. What I was initially told via email would be about 30 sculptures, 70 coins, and a few miscellaneous objects turned out to be 19 beads, 22 bracelets, 38 coins, 104 rings, 38 sculptures and some other miscellaneous objects. I catalogued the crap out of all of these and have anywhere from 3 to 15 photos per object, giving me over 1100 photos for this season of just artifacts! Not bad for a preliminary study and the fact that just about every other day new objects were found that needed to be included. I also re-measured about 100 objects once I acquired some calipers (I must say though, if I was off in my measurements from when I was using a ruler, I was only off by about a millimeter! Pretty decent I have to say).

Anywho, I wrapped up my preliminary study and said my good-byes for the year since I will likely be back next year – hopefully with better French! I asked permission from the museum for something I really wanted to have, but I will have to wait a short while before I tell you all what it was (my Iron Age archaeology friends will be a tiny bit jealous I think). I did promise the curator that in exchange for this thing I wanted, that I would spread some propaganda about how great the museum is! It is no lie, the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais is pretty fabulous! It is only about 2 years old and holds the famous Vix Krater that I blogged about last year. There are also great Gallo-Roman collections from the surrounding areas. It is definitely worth the visit if you are ever traveling in Burgundy. I did help a few Americans find what they were looking for in the museum my second to last day there, which proves it is possible for Americans to survive in that part of the country :)

After I concluded with my work Wednesday morning, I hopped a bus back to Dijon to stay with Sarah for a few days – a change of scenery was very necessary. She asked me if I wanted to see Harry Potter since it opened on Wednesday in France. Even though it was the dubbed version, I said ‘YES!’ because I remember enough of the book to get along and I can understand enough of the dialogue to figure out what’s going on. There was also so much action in this one that words weren’t really necessary. I ate some popcorn during the movie since I didn’t have time all day to eat. It was sweet though, not buttered and salted like at home, though the other option if available some places. It was ok, kind of like really, really light caramel corn with just a splash of caramel. It didn’t matter much because after I ate a proper dinner. Sarah is an amazing cook and often cooks for me when I stay with her – even if its fresh food her ability to combine amazing flavors and prepare them in a really appetizing way astounds me! 

Thursday was a national holiday in France, Bastille Day. It is like our Independence Day, but people lost their heads on that day in the French version (think Marie Antoinette and company). I was hoping there would be some celebrations/things to do or see in Dijon, but apparently most of the activities take place in the smaller surrounding cities. I was pleased to hear though that there would be fireworks! Sarah had to work, but her old roommate, Thomas, who I met last year offered to take me with he and his friends to see them by the lake near Dijon. I graciously accepted and got to see some really great fireworks – I sort of pretended in my head this was my belated Fourth of July celebration! Here are some of the photos from the hill where we were seated. It was quite lovely and bit chilly, but worth the wait:

The hill where we viewed the fireworks...

And the Grand Finale! 











On Tuesday night, before I left Châtillon, I changed from what I think of now as my third floor penthouse down to a lowly apartment so that I would be on the same floor as my excavation team. The room has most of the same features, except only one window and it is lacking the non-functioning shower. I have a better pillow, which made me happy! None of the other students had arrived yet when I left, but our artist for the site and a former archaeologist turned politician in Germany turned up this week as well as an old French ceramic specialist who looks at the Attic pottery from the site. We all had dinner Monday and Tuesday night at the director’s house where I was “encouraged” to try a glass of wine from the various different bottles we had each night. Ugh, you know you are getting old or you enjoyed your college years too much when you only get an acidy stomach without the buzz from three glasses of wine. Sigh. I was also told by my director that I need to practice my wine drinking as much as my French. We’ll see how that goes, ha!

So, now I shall hop on the bus again and return to Châtillon to begin the second part of my summer in France. Excavations begin Monday at the Early Iron Age site of Vix. We will be excavating a dwelling or two, which will be great because during all of my excavations, I’ve never looked at something as basic and as necessary as a person’s home. I am looking forward to it and am excited to meet the rest of the team. I was told I will probably not improve my French much because most of the other students are German, but a girl can hope! I have no internet now in my new room, so I will update when I can. Until then, thanks for following along and I hope to bring you all and update soon!