In 2005 I somehow ended up on a documentary-filming expedition in the South of France. And when I say ended up – I mean ended up. Seriously. It was quite a turn of events. At the time I was working for a hideously dishonest British man who happens to have a lovely father. (I was actively looking for a different job and eventually wound up in Mississippi… and then back in Utah, but that’s another story) Anyway, Horrible boss' Father (Bill) is a bit of a history buff and is very interested in the mystery at Rennes-le-Chateau (More later on that).
My boss had the idea to send me over to England to film a series of interviews for his lovely business partner. He must have mentioned this to his father, who became very excited because he was in the process of planning his next expedition to France for research and a bit of mischeif. So I ended up spending a week in England for the interviews (got to pop up to London town and tour a bit and see Les Miserables!) and then headed down to Carcassone and the Rennes-le-Chateau area with Bill and two other lovely people – Sandy, an archaeologist, and Ben, another lover of the Rennes mystery. (Ben Hammott – thetombman.com)
We stayed at a gorgeous new (for France, 1923) Gite (a house you can rent) in Esperaza, Aude Languedoc region of France, called La Maison du Chapelier. It is owned by a great English guy and his French wife. They run a hotel out of half of it, and rent out the other half of the house as a residence. It was lovely!
Our Gite - "La Maison du Chapelier." There is a lovely boulangerie around the corner that has fresh bread (french bread, of course!) and pain au choclat every day! Yum!
Let me tell you, the South of France is everything everyone makes it out to be. Seriously.
I grew up near Napa, and Napa, while pretty, ain’t got nothin’ on Southern France’s rolling green hills and valleys covered in perfectly planted vineyards. Medieval Castles still dot the hillside – you can stand in one “tour” (tower) and see three others on the facing hills.
The soft sunlight caresses the region (really, there’s no other way to describe the delicate interplay between light and land there) and you can just feel the history of the place all around you, whispering its long-hidden secrets quickly through your hair, barely inaudible, yet always there. (Obviously, I needed a minute to wax poetic just then... okay, I'm over it.)
Me on the Tour Magdala (Magdalene Tower) at Rennes le Chateau.
Bill & Ben
Aude Languedoc was once a Roman region, and you can still find (and bathe) in the ruins of Roman baths built on hot springs. It is also the region where the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Priory of Sion come heavily into play in medieval times, and where Christ’s body is rumored to have been buried (and still lay, for whatever that’s worth - which is, in a roundabout way, what brought me and my companions to the area).
I have to say, I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. All I heard was: “Trip to England and France?” Right. Sign me up. “What? I’m going to film an archaeological expedition? Sweet! Lets go!”
I really wish I'd had more background info on the project before I went. Normally I would have researched the heck out of the subject before jumping on a plane, but I was finishing up my last semester at the Y and working 3/4 time as well. I had zero time. In fact, I skipped out on “walking” at graduation to go on the trip. Pomp and Circumstance or crawling around in caves and visiting castles in Southern France? Yeah, just try and tell me I made the wrong decision. I’ll laugh really, really hard.
So, long story short, while we were there, a small group making a documentary film on a subject similar to Dan Brown’s DaVinci code (the Film was set to release a few months after I returned from France) collaborated with us to film our group’s expedition (and use my footage) as Ben Hammott, one of our party, had actually made some amazing headway with solving the mystery of the Priest Sauniere. He’d actually found one of the artifacts Sauniere had hidden as a part in a series of clues left to solve his mystery. Part of my expedition was to find the second clue, which we did.
Near the site of our "Finds" (The guy in the BYU sweatshirt is actually wearing my BYU sweatshirt. It was chillier there than he'd anticipated so he borrowed it. It was quite humorous as he is in no way, shape or form connected to BYU... ya know?)
Our "Finds"
Bill, Ben and Sandy agreed to let the producers of the documentary use our footage in exchange for letting us use their footage for our own documentary once theirs had been released. That film was FINALLY released this year in limited release. It did the festival circuit, some colleges and indie venues across the states. It is releasing on DVD today. I’ve ordered it and am expecting to receive it today. It should be interesting.
Disclaimer: I have no idea whatsoever how this film looks, what its ultimate message is, etc (sadly)… so, I have to say cautiously – check it out, but beware! I think the message is trying to discredit the resurrection of Christ, ultimately, but I’m not sure… All in all, watch it carefully, be a responsible viewer, if you do choose to watch it, and take things at face value. For my part in the film, I was privileged to be part of an amazing archaeological discovery and loved every minute. Nothing we discovered lead to the conclusion I mentioned above and none of my companions on the shoot believe the two subjects (of Christ’s resurrection and Sauniere’s mystery) to be interconnected in that manner – it is believed that Sauniere’s mystery may have more to do with discrediting the Catholic Church than with discrediting Christ’s resurrection…)
That’s it. I hope I haven’t confused you too badly. The short of it:
Theres a film I helped film. It releases on DVD today. I think you should check it out (carefully).
Oh, it’s called Bloodline. And Netflix is carrying it.
Cheers.
My boss had the idea to send me over to England to film a series of interviews for his lovely business partner. He must have mentioned this to his father, who became very excited because he was in the process of planning his next expedition to France for research and a bit of mischeif. So I ended up spending a week in England for the interviews (got to pop up to London town and tour a bit and see Les Miserables!) and then headed down to Carcassone and the Rennes-le-Chateau area with Bill and two other lovely people – Sandy, an archaeologist, and Ben, another lover of the Rennes mystery. (Ben Hammott – thetombman.com)
We stayed at a gorgeous new (for France, 1923) Gite (a house you can rent) in Esperaza, Aude Languedoc region of France, called La Maison du Chapelier. It is owned by a great English guy and his French wife. They run a hotel out of half of it, and rent out the other half of the house as a residence. It was lovely!
Our Gite - "La Maison du Chapelier." There is a lovely boulangerie around the corner that has fresh bread (french bread, of course!) and pain au choclat every day! Yum!
Let me tell you, the South of France is everything everyone makes it out to be. Seriously.
I grew up near Napa, and Napa, while pretty, ain’t got nothin’ on Southern France’s rolling green hills and valleys covered in perfectly planted vineyards. Medieval Castles still dot the hillside – you can stand in one “tour” (tower) and see three others on the facing hills.
The soft sunlight caresses the region (really, there’s no other way to describe the delicate interplay between light and land there) and you can just feel the history of the place all around you, whispering its long-hidden secrets quickly through your hair, barely inaudible, yet always there. (Obviously, I needed a minute to wax poetic just then... okay, I'm over it.)
Me on the Tour Magdala (Magdalene Tower) at Rennes le Chateau.
Bill & Ben
Aude Languedoc was once a Roman region, and you can still find (and bathe) in the ruins of Roman baths built on hot springs. It is also the region where the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Priory of Sion come heavily into play in medieval times, and where Christ’s body is rumored to have been buried (and still lay, for whatever that’s worth - which is, in a roundabout way, what brought me and my companions to the area).
I have to say, I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. All I heard was: “Trip to England and France?” Right. Sign me up. “What? I’m going to film an archaeological expedition? Sweet! Lets go!”
I really wish I'd had more background info on the project before I went. Normally I would have researched the heck out of the subject before jumping on a plane, but I was finishing up my last semester at the Y and working 3/4 time as well. I had zero time. In fact, I skipped out on “walking” at graduation to go on the trip. Pomp and Circumstance or crawling around in caves and visiting castles in Southern France? Yeah, just try and tell me I made the wrong decision. I’ll laugh really, really hard.
So, long story short, while we were there, a small group making a documentary film on a subject similar to Dan Brown’s DaVinci code (the Film was set to release a few months after I returned from France) collaborated with us to film our group’s expedition (and use my footage) as Ben Hammott, one of our party, had actually made some amazing headway with solving the mystery of the Priest Sauniere. He’d actually found one of the artifacts Sauniere had hidden as a part in a series of clues left to solve his mystery. Part of my expedition was to find the second clue, which we did.
Near the site of our "Finds" (The guy in the BYU sweatshirt is actually wearing my BYU sweatshirt. It was chillier there than he'd anticipated so he borrowed it. It was quite humorous as he is in no way, shape or form connected to BYU... ya know?)
Our "Finds"
Bill, Ben and Sandy agreed to let the producers of the documentary use our footage in exchange for letting us use their footage for our own documentary once theirs had been released. That film was FINALLY released this year in limited release. It did the festival circuit, some colleges and indie venues across the states. It is releasing on DVD today. I’ve ordered it and am expecting to receive it today. It should be interesting.
Disclaimer: I have no idea whatsoever how this film looks, what its ultimate message is, etc (sadly)… so, I have to say cautiously – check it out, but beware! I think the message is trying to discredit the resurrection of Christ, ultimately, but I’m not sure… All in all, watch it carefully, be a responsible viewer, if you do choose to watch it, and take things at face value. For my part in the film, I was privileged to be part of an amazing archaeological discovery and loved every minute. Nothing we discovered lead to the conclusion I mentioned above and none of my companions on the shoot believe the two subjects (of Christ’s resurrection and Sauniere’s mystery) to be interconnected in that manner – it is believed that Sauniere’s mystery may have more to do with discrediting the Catholic Church than with discrediting Christ’s resurrection…)
That’s it. I hope I haven’t confused you too badly. The short of it:
Theres a film I helped film. It releases on DVD today. I think you should check it out (carefully).
Oh, it’s called Bloodline. And Netflix is carrying it.
Cheers.
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