Lettre autographe datée et signée adressée à sa cuisinière Augustine Bastide

Autograph letter signed by Charles de Gaulle, dated and addressed to his cook Augustine Bastide, who served him from 1940 to 1958, 13 lines in black ink on his headed paper.
Fold marks inherent to postal handling.
The de Gaulles had taken in the recipient of this letter, Augustine Bastide, upon their arrival in London. Of Provençal origin, she served the family from 1940 to 1958 first in Great Britain then in France. At the de Gaulle couple's table in an England severely affected by rationing, one could then find rabbits, winkles, and other frogs. The "outspoken Southerner" would remain in the general's service for nearly twenty years, sometimes causing hilarity in the stoic head of state:

« En 1946, alors qu'il venait de quitter le pouvoir volontairement, il lui a lancé : "Vous voyez Augustine, la politique c'est plus décevant que le travail aux fourneaux". Alors, les mains aux hanches, elle a rétorqué : "Mais général, pourquoi ne vous décidez-vous donc pas à rendre définitivement votre tablier ?" Mon père n'a pu se retenir de rire » ("In 1946, when he had just voluntarily left power, he said to her: 'You see Augustine, politics is more disappointing than working at the stove'. Then, hands on her hips, she retorted: 'But General, why don't you decide to hang up your apron for good?' My father couldn't help but laugh")
(Philippe de Gaulle, De Gaulle mon père)