French town a magnet for Christmas letters

PARIS -- They send drawings, carrots for the reindeer and pieces of cake. One youngster who wanted his parents to get rid of their old car sent Santa Claus the keys.

Welcome to the Father Christmas postal office in the French town of Libourne, where more than 60 "elves" -- well, secretaries -- spend the holiday season sorting through letters from children around the world and mailing back colorful greeting cards.

Its fame has spread. The center receives so many letters from Russia that it hired a Russian-speaking secretary.

Letters addressed to "Pere Noel, France" ("Father Christmas, France") have been landing there for more than 40 years. Since 1997, Santa also can be reached by e-mail, in French, via the center's Web site, www.laposte.fr.

Some children ask Santa to give their father a job. One child sent in a doll for Santa to give to someone less privileged. Another mailed $120 for Santa to buy him the perfect gift.

A few years ago, one letter sent by a class of primary school students in southwestern France was 196 feet long, rolled up like a scroll and hand-delivered.

Last year, staffers responded to children in 127 countries with 1.3 million cards -- dwarfing the volume handled by other free Santa services in Germany, Sweden, Italy and Norway. Greenland, despite being a land of snow and ice, gets only around 50,000 letters a year.

In Italy, "Babbo Natale" -- as Santa is known -- responds with Christmas wishes, either in a poem or a special thought, and a small gift like a puzzle that changes every year.

"The 'Letters to Babbo Natale' initiative is a way to celebrate Christmas, and also a way to show children the importance of letters as a way to communicate -- a mode which is at risk of dying," said Daniela Orsini, a spokeswoman for the Italian Postal Service.

Libourne's Santa office dresses up for the occasion, with a Christmas tree and glittering garlands, stockings and letters and drawings from children on the walls.

"Santa's at the North Pole, but this is one of his offices," said Herve Labarthe, who heads customer relations at the French mail center. "He's got other things to worry about: Creating the toys, or preparing his trip. He's delegated to us for more than 40 years."

The office got its start in 1962 after a postal worker in Normandy noticed a sudden influx of seasonal wish letters, but didn't know how to forward them -- so they ended up in the trash.

Word made its way up to France's post, telecommunications and telegraph minister at the time, who delegated his child-psychiatrist sister to set up a response center in Paris. Some 2,000 letters were answered that year, Labarthe said by telephone.

A few years later, the center was moved to Libourne as part of a government policy to decentralize some official services away from the capital, he said.

Postal officials say the French station probably gets more letters than other countries because it is the oldest of its kind, it's free -- postage isn't even needed for letters mailed within France -- and about 25,000 schools write to the center each year.

A 1993 article in the Russian newspaper Pravda bolstered the center's celebrity, and since then journalists from around the globe have visited, Labarthe said.

This year, the office opened Nov. 21. Some children send thank-you notes after Christmas, and a few write to express their disappointment with toys that break too fast.

"But we don't offer after-sales service," said Labarthe, laughing.

France's mail service, La Poste, says the operation costs $1.4 million each year. After the Christmas season, the office goes back to its regular task: Sorting mail with unknown addresses.

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On the Net

La Poste site, with link for e-mailing (in French): www.laposte.fr