Lettre autographe datée et signée adressée à sa cuisinière Augustine Bastide la remerciant pour ses souhaits d'anniversaire

Autograph letter dated and signed by Charles de Gaulle, addressed to his cook Augustine Bastide, who served him from 1940 to 1958. 9 lines in blue ink on his headed paper.
Fold mark inherent to postal folding.
The general thanks her for her birthday wishes: "... wholeheartedly, thank you for your thoughtfulness."
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, periwinkles, and other frogs. The "outspoken Southerner" would remain in the general's service for nearly twenty years, sometimes provoking hilarity from the stoic head of state:


In 1946, when he had just voluntarily left power, he said to her: "You see Augustine, politics is more disappointing than working at the stoves." Then, hands on her hips, she retorted: "But general, why don't you decide to hang up your apron for good?" My father could not help but laugh
(Philippe de Gaulle, De Gaulle mon père)