Joyeuses Paques

Caught in a downpour when visiting the Marche aux Timbres last week, I lingered a while under the plastic tenting and perused the collections of stamps and cartes postales.  (I love stamps, in case no one has noticed.  Never have been any good at organizing them in a proper philatelic fashion; but the colors and designs are so appealing. Each one a miniature work of art.)

After purchasing a few packets of stamps, I found this adorable Happy Easter card.

Whenever I acquire an old letter, I have a ‘satiable curiosity to learn more about Google its original owner.  Surely there is a human-interest story in any document treasured for so many years, then disposed of.

The flipside of the postcard reads:

“to my little friend Madeleine; best regards to her maman; big kiss to her”

My mind conjures up all sorts of scenarios. To get a bit of context, I Google-mapped the address.  It no longer exists.  The building where this little girl Madeleine lived with her mother was apparently razed a while ago.  What is there now is the gaping Place de Catalogne, a magnificent but over-sized and inhospitable circle of buildings near the gare Montparnasse.

I wonder what ever became of Madeleine and her maman.