The postcard "lost" for 41 years, vanishes again

Perhaps you're an optimist and believe that nothing ever gets "lost in the post" and instead mail failing to arrive at its destination on time has simply "gone missing"...for a while.

It's there, somewhere in the system. But nobody really has a clue where.

(from Wikipedia)

Well a cynic might say that's what the postal service would want us to believe.

Except occasionally there really is evidence that our sometimes tried and tested patience is not misplaced.

Such is the case of a postcard, according to the regional daily La Dépêche du Midi, sent by a certain Monsieur Le Petit in July.

He was holidaying in the southwestern village of Praz-sur-Arly and wanted to say a simple "hello" to his friends, Madame et Monsieur Bigot, who were renting a gite just over 630 kilometres away in the southwestern village of Saint-Martin-de-Vers.

"The area is very beautiful," wrote M Le Petit.

"See you soon. Enjoy your holiday and have a good rest."

The card plopped through the letter box of Charles Dardenne, the farmer who owns the gite, at the end of August.

But the Bigots weren't there.

And with good cause.

Because the card was postmarked July, 1970.

Yes it had taken a mere 41 years to reach its destination.

Dardenne, when interviewed by the paper for Thursday's edition said he was thinking about tracking down the Bigot family and M Le Petit to find out what had happened to them.

Clearly though, the postcard had other thoughts, because a day later, when contacted by Agence France Presse, the farmer said it had gone missing - again.

"It's a mystery, but I cannot find it," he said.

"Perhaps it'll make a reappearance in another 41 year, but I won't be around to see it," he added.

Aliens?

A post office with a difference - 75 metres underground

Tourists to the Padirac chasm in the south west of France will be able to do more than just visit the cave next week. They'll also be able to send mail, 75 metres underground.

For just two days - on June 12 and 13 - after taking either the lift or descending the 455 steps, that take them into the Gouffre at Padirac, they'll find a pillar box and a fully-functioning post office.

It'll be open for business to coincide with the launch by La Poste, the French postal service, of a limited edition set of 10 stamps promoting the whole region of the Midi-Pyrénées including one with an image of the chasm.

As well as being able to send mail, customers and philatelists will be able to have their collection franked with a special "Padirac Day" or "First Day" seal.

"We've done our research and as far as we know this will be a world first: a post office 75 metres underground," Erik Burté, the director of the post office in the nearby village of Gramat and the man who'll be in charge of the Padirac branch over the two days, told national radio.

"I'm in no way an expert at potholing, nor are my colleagues," he continued.

"So it'll be a first for us too, to remain underground."

Burté and his colleagues might not have experience in potholing, but with temperatures at a steady 13 degrees, they'll be kitted out in the requisite gear for working underground, including a helmet, suitably warm overalls and boots.