Stéphane Place, edited by Laura Laplaud 10:37 am, November 16, 2021

As the holidays approach and like every year, it is possible to send your letter to Santa Claus.

Once sent, 50 elves get down to answering it until December 17.

A tradition of the French Post Office which has lasted for exactly 59 years and which surprises these little elves every year.

If Santa Claus is Finnish, his mailbox is French.

Established for nearly 60 years in Libourne, in Gironde, its secretariat, run by elves, has just opened its doors.

50 elves who are responsible for opening the thousands of letters sent to Santa Claus.

15,000 were sent to him just on the first day of the opening of the secretariat, November 12th.

"I have a letter in front of me, that of a little Eliott, he asks Father Christmas for Pokémon", testifies an elf.

"He's also asking for gifts for his mom and dad."

Gifts aren't the only things kids ask for

The letters are often accompanied by drawings, collages, stickers, and a long list of gifts.

They are also sent to addresses that are sometimes very poetic: "rue des étoiles", "workshops of the North Pole", "avenue des rennes". 

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Each year, the employees of Santa Claus' secretariat receive nearly a million letters from all over the world and more than 80,000 e-mails.

While some children ask for gifts, others want peace and freedom.

"We are touching more and more South America", details another elf.

"The majority come from Asia, Taiwan in particular. They never ask for anything material, they ask for more time with their families or peace and freedom in their country."

Letters sent free of charge

But sometimes there are surprises in the envelopes sent by the children.

"We have a little girl who writes to us' the chimney is too small, so here are the keys to the car 'but indeed, she actually put the keys to the parents' car in the envelope!"

says an employee.

"But we don't have an address on the front of the envelope so we will wait to see if the parents, possibly, find out and if they will make a complaint."

To write to Santa Claus, there is no need to stick a stamp, as soon as the words "Santa Claus" are written on the envelope, it is sent free of charge to this Gironde postal center.

A tradition of the French Post Office which has lasted for 59 years now.