Date of tip: 04 April 2005

Source: Garret Martin, g.j.martin@lse.ac.uk

Archive: Ministère des Affaires Étrangères Français (More informally known as le Quai d’Orsay). 

Location: France; 1 rue Robert Esnault Pelterie 75007 Paris (metro stop Invalides, line 8 and 13, express RER line C);

Contact Details: Reading room phone number (+33 1 43 17 42 42). To book documents over the phone (+33 1 43 17 53 47). 

How to get there: Plenty of ways to get to Paris, including various mainstream airlines, or low-cost airlines like Easyjet; In addition, there is also the convenient option of the Eurostar from London or Brussels. 

Language: Staff is French speaking, although, as far as I know, some of them have basic knowledge of English.  

Getting started: Before visiting the Quai d’Orsay for the first time, you need to fill an online form, which you can find at this following link:

 http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/archives/service/nous-ecrire/salle-consultation/salle-consultation.asp

Once you have filled in the form, you need to wait for a letter confirming that you have been granted access to the archives (tip: the administration of the Quai can be slow, especially when sending letters abroad. If you have made plans to come to Paris at a specific date, and haven’t received the letter, don’t despair! You can always call up the archives, and as long as your demand has been accepted on the records, you can do without the letter). Every time you go to the archives, you need to bring ID with you. The first time you visit, they will issue you, free of charge, an annual reader’s card, which can be renewed in subsequent visits.  

Opening Hours: Archives are open, Monday to Friday, between 9.00 am and 6.00 pm. Besides being closed for the usual (and numerous!) French bank holidays, there is also an annual closing period between 15^th and 31^st May. Warning: You can only access, and leave, the reading room at certain specific times during the day (more or less, once an hour). And you can only do so accompanied by a member of staff. 

General working conditions: Basically there is just a small reading room, including a minute and poorly lit microfilm section. Total capacity is probably about 60 places. Before entering the reading room, you have to store all bags and coats in a locker. There are also specific lockers for food. Only pencils are allowed in the reading room. In the summer, if you’re unlucky to be caught in a heat wave as I was in 2003, there is only a limited air conditioning system. Overall, certainly not the most comfortable place to work in. 

Consultation: You can order up to six volumes in advance, as long as you don’t have more than three already in reserve (so you’re allowed a quota of 9 volumes). All orders have to be made at least one day in advance and before 3.50 pm, which, once you have your readers’ card, you can make either directly in the reading room, or online at the following link:

 http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/archives/service/nous-ecrire/reservation-document/reservation-document.asp

For some particular files, or the ones that are not fully declassified, you may have to make a manual order, which can take a few days to process. 

Policy on technology: Laptops are allowed, but there is no internet access in the room. On the issue of digital cameras, there is yet another example of French incompetence. When I asked about the policy, a member of staff told me they didn’t want people using cameras (because then no one would use the photocopying system). He then added that they might make an exception, as long as it is only for a small number of pictures, i.e. less than 10! 

Photocopy policy: The Photocopy system is certainly quite limited and modest. It is run by a very small staff, and on good days between 10.00 am and 12.30, and between 1.30 and 4.45 pm; you are not allowed to photocopy more than half of the content of any volume. As for tariffs, its 0, 30 € per page for the A4 format, and 0, 61 € per page for the A3 format. 

Tip: If you join l'Association des Amis des Archives diplomatiques (which you can do in the reading room) for the modest sum of about 7, 60 € per year for students, this reduces the price you pay per photocopy to 0,23 € for the A4 format, and 0,46 € for the A3 format.

Warning: It’s a strange system where, before photocopying, you have to fill in a form, listing how many photocopies you plan to make. Once the form is filled in, you have to wait for the staff to come and pick you up, and lead you to a small cupboard sized room, where you can photocopy under their watchful eye! 

Particularities: There is no cafeteria, so I strongly recommend bringing your own lunch. The other option is to eat outside, but that means having to leave for a minimum of an hour (see section on opening hours). 

How to apply for classified files: Again it is not a straightforward system. The fully declassified files are part of the volumes that have an index in the reading room. Then, you sometimes have volumes that have a provisional classification, but the index is not in the reading room. Those files can be consulted, but you need to get in touch with les archivists (more about them in the question below). 

In addition, when it comes to volumes where the extreme date is less than 30 years old, it is nevertheless possible to gain access to some parts of the folder. For example, imagine you want to look at Franco-Soviet relations between 1971 and 1973: The volume might cover the period 1971—1976, so it is not yet declassified. It is still possible though to see extracts out of this volume, as long as there are 30 years old, or more. Then you have the final category of fully classified volumes. You can submit a dérogation, which you fill out in the reading room, but based on my own experience, I would arm myself with patience and not get your hopes too high! 

Contact name in case of questions regarding classified files: Whenever dealing with a more technical procedure, especially access to classified files, make sure you find out which conservateur is in charge of the volumes you are after. The conservateurs are the archivists, and they know the volumes best. They are generally helpful and understanding, and will support your requests. 

General Assessment: True to my Gallic roots, I have complained at length about the Quai d’Orsay in this report. The working conditions are not so good, and staff is generally far from overly cordial. Equally true, they are generally Luddites when it comes to technology. But the Quai remains a great source of information for any students of French foreign policy, or French history. Rather than being deterred by the multitude of obstacles, please follow my example and see it as a challenge to overcome!