I've always been intrigued and fascinated by genealogy. I inherited the little obsession from my uncle Denis, who was the first in our family to research the extensive Paquins of Quebec. My mom's family is wonderfully easy to research, I've found, and over the past few years have discovered some rather amazing family connections.

Yesterday, I went on a little genealogical journey researching one of my relatives with a unique name, Numedique Paquin. I came to find a rather baffling assortment of sites with family names and links that I had no idea existed. People always seem to concentrate on the paternal side of families, but I always wanted to know about the maternal sides. And boy have I been surprised!

Like, for instance, two of the family names in my tree--Vezina and Billy--are in fact, English. The de Billy family goes back to the 1100s in France and England--and they originally hail from Yorkshire. The Vezinas are from Glouchester. And the Trottiers, my maternal great-great-grandmother's family, arrived from an area in France called La Perche, which seems precisely the place I'd like to go next. They're cheesemakers and winemakers, and it's pretty much stayed the same since the Middle Ages.

I know some of these relations are very distant. And really, who can vouch for true paternity, anyway? But connecting my family to all parts of Northern France (including some born right in Paris itself) and England is just... well, quite thrilling for me. Not to mention the connection to lange d'oil, and my obsession with Marie de France and the Breton tradition.

These people are reduced to names and dates now, it's true. And as a special I was watching the other night explained, after a certain number of generations, your great-great-great-great-great relations get narrowed down significantly. But as a history buff, and a sometime medievalist... wow. It just boggles my mind. :)