[1] She studied Russian and Chinese at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris.
[2] After graduation, Boulnois spent seven years as a translator[1] and it was through the professional contacts and travel that this afforded that she became interested in the Silk Road and trade along it.
"[4] She worked at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) for nearly 30 years in Nepalese and Himalayan studies before retiring in 1992.
The first edition received only a qualified welcome, being praised for its scope and enthusiasm but also criticised for not being up to date with the latest scholarship, poor referencing, the lack of an index and the omission of references to some authorities in the field.
[5][6][7] In 2001, Boulnois published her summation of her researches as La route de la soie-dieux, guerriers et marchands, which was translated into English by Helen Loveday and published in 2004 as Silk Road: Monks, warriors & merchants on the Silk Road.