"Les Grands Chemins tu as raison, c'est un livre formidable. De plein air et de grand style. On peut toujours relire Giono... la vie passe entre les lignes et la poésie... merveilleux ! "

Dated and signed manuscript letter of 42 lines from Alphonse Boudard to his great friend and companion of boozy lunches, the Brussels journalist André Tillieu, who was, like Alphonse Boudard, a great friend of Georges Brassens but also of Louis Nucéra.
A fold mark inherent to the folding of the letter for mailing.
"vieux,
merci de ta formidable lettre... j'ai mis du temps avant de te répondre, débordé que je suis par les activités de "promotion" de Mme de Saint Sulpice. Fatigant tous ces trains, tous ces avions, ces attentes, ces blabla toujours les mêmes. Bah ! il y a des métiers plus pénibles et moins rémunérateurs. Je me demande toujours si mes premiers bouquins tiennent encore la lecture. Tu me rassures un peu et je reçois aussi des témoignages de nouveaux lecteurs... jeunes... Le spectable de Jacques Rosny a bien du mal à démarrer. J'ai en main un texte formidable de Raymond Devos qui va paraître dans le "Figaro" et qui nous donnera peut-être le coup d'envoi. Je sais que tu apprécies beaucoup la nouvelle "Gladys". J'en ai tiré une pièce - il y a déjà 12 ans - et finalement elle va être montée au Petit Marigny avec Danielle Darrieux et Christian Barbier. Là, je pense que ces messieurs de la critique se dérangeront. Les Grands Chemins tu as raison, c'est un livre formidable. De plein air et de grand style. On peut toujours relire Giono... la vie passe entre les lignes et la poésie... merveilleux ! J'espère que les choses vont mieux pour toi... Je t'embrasse fraternellement. ABoudard Louis sera à Paris demain pour le prix Blondin. Suzanne va mieux." ["old friend,
thank you for your wonderful letter... I took time before answering you, overwhelmed as I am by the "promotional" activities for Mme de Saint Sulpice. Tiring, all these trains, all these planes, these waits, these blah blah always the same. Well! there are more difficult and less rewarding jobs. I always wonder if my first books still hold up to reading. You reassure me a bit and I also receive testimonials from new readers... young ones... Jacques Rosny's show is having trouble getting started. I have in hand a wonderful text by Raymond Devos that will appear in "Figaro" and which might perhaps give us the kickoff. I know you very much appreciate the short story "Gladys". I made a play from it - already 12 years ago - and finally it's going to be staged at the Petit Marigny with Danielle Darrieux and Christian Barbier. There, I think these gentlemen of the critics will make the effort to come. Les Grands Chemins you're right, it's a wonderful book. Of open air and great style. One can always reread Giono... life passes between the lines and poetry... marvelous! I hope things are going better for you... I embrace you fraternally. ABoudard Louis will be in Paris tomorrow for the Blondin prize. Suzanne is doing better."]
André Tillieu from Brussels, very close friend and biographer of Georges Brassens, maintained an epistolary correspondence with Alphonse Boudard for almost thirty years, from 1972 until the latter's death in 2000.
The cheeky Parisian writer very quickly showed him his friendship, considering him one of the rare critics to understand him perfectly, to the point of clearly explaining in his reviews what he himself expressed only incompletely and sometimes confusedly in his books.
André Tillieu thus became part of the small circle of Alphonse Boudard's true friends alongside Big Georges (Georges Brassens), the Nice native (Louis Nucéra) and René Fallet with whom he loved to share hearty well-watered meals and cycling trips. As death gradually took away his best friends one by one, André Tillieu would remain one of Alphonse's very last pals.