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an old letter and a piece of paper with writing on it
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MERMOZ Jean L.A.S. ‘Mermoz’, 7 June 1928, to his grandparents, the GILLETs; 2 pages, in-4 format, on letterhead of the Compagnie générale aéropostale. Expansion of the Aéropostale in South America. He never stops: “ Still on the move from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, with weekly flights across the Andes for our Chilean route, for which I shall be launching the first official mail service in the early days of next month; in the meantime, preparations are under way for airstrips, and we’re fine-tuning the newly delivered aircraft. In short, I’m looking forward to my well-deserved leave, which is fast approaching and will give me the pleasure of seeing you all again. Winter is now over for you and just beginning for us. The arduous summer journeys become even more gruelling at this time of year. We operate with perfect regularity on the seven-and-a-half-day journey from Buenos Aires to France, but our ships, which are still making the Atlantic crossing, do not meet our need for speed. We are working hard on the seaplane project, and it may well be that within three to four months I will make the first postal crossing of the Atlantic. The Managing Director, Mr Daurat, has just arrived from Toulouse; he spoke to me about my long-distance flight plans and told me that Latécoère was preparing an aeroplane which would be entrusted to me to attempt a non-stop flight from Toulouse to Buenos Aires as soon as such flights are authorised. If successful, I would be allowed to fly from Paris to New York. Then a seaplane journey from Marseille to Rio de Janeiro. My plans have become theirs, such is their confidence in my luck, and I am delighted. Now, as soon as my plans have been given the go-ahead, I have been asked to promise to accept a post as Operations Director for one of the sections of the existing routes within eighteen months. I have agreed in principle. I’ll be approaching thirty – perhaps I’ll get married?? – and I’ll have a lovely, stable job, which will still leave me enough free time to fly as I please. I’ll do a one-month training course after my leave in Toulouse to learn the ins and outs of running an airline – a field of which I’m familiar only with the commercial side. My experience is enough for the rest. In any case, it would be abroad, I don’t know where, perhaps here where I’m known.” The Count of Vaulx nominated him for the rosette: “Given my age, I wouldn’t be awarded it until next year. But Mr Bouilloux-Lafont is keen on the idea, so…” His mother is moving to Lille. ‘The thing is, I can’t see myself returning to France for good just yet. Firstly, new air routes are now being established to the Far East and the Far South, and as far as salary is concerned, I couldn’t bring myself to settle for three or four thousand francs a month. From what Mum tells me, the cost of living is extremely high.” He can save 10,000 to 12,000 francs a year: “What sort of job would allow me to do that in France at the moment, at the age of 27?”… Correspondence, no. 140. Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Subsequently passed down through the family
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Auction time 11/03/2026 at 11:00 AM
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