THE POSTCARD
This was the post card John Waller kept for 70 years. There was no address on the post card.
By getting the card translated, the documentary team was able to determine the name of the
estate and narrow down where it might be in France.
It was because John Waller held on to the post card that the team was ultimately able to find the
estate and the family and return the portrait to its home.
This was the post card John Waller kept for 70 years. There was no address on the post card.
By getting the card translated, we were able to determine the name of the estate and narrow down where it might be in France.
It was because he held on to the post card that we were ultimately able to return the portrait.
Translation:
Redon, May 24, 1935
Dear friends,
If the photo of Baby made you happy, I am satisfied with my mediocre success. Here is one, not bad at all, of your dear Kerligan. Kerligan is perfectly suited to the charming people who inhabit it, so I wish that your happy days there continue for you for a long time… until the day when, as I often said to Monique to tease her, you will be two little old people all hunched over, walking with a cane, with a… at the tip of the nose, and me a venerable friar... and then we will talk about the good old days.
Best regards.
(signature)
* Note from translator:
Kerligan is a town in Brittany (Département of the Côtes-d’Armor).
Redon is also a town in Brittany (Département of the Ille-et-Vilaine), south of Kerligan. The estate is certainly located in Kerligan.
Kerlegan Today
This is the Kerlegan of 2017. When Marie Therese DeGail, whose family still owns this beautiful chateau, corresponded with us during our search, this was the picture she sent to show that the Kerlegan of 1945 is the same place as the Kerlegan of 2017.
It was one of the most exciting days of the project. Of course, meeting the fabulous De Gail family in person was equally exciting, delightful, and a day to remember for a lifetime.
