Letter Discovered in Louis XV Desk at Versailles
- Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:09pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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PARIS (AP) — For 67 years, a message from Nazi-occupied France remained hidden in a secret drawer of a desk that belonged to France’s 18th century King Louis XV.
Restorers at the Chateau of Versailles recently discovered the letter, written by a World War II-era colleague who last restored the bronze-coated bureau.
The letter, released Tuesday by the chateau, details restoration work on the desk during the war. The restorer says he wrote the note after he finished the work – just as Paris was being liberated from the Nazis in August 1944.
The letter was found in one of the desk’s many small drawers, which can be opened only by a complex mechanical system of secret buttons and locks considered cutting-edge in its day.



















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Comments (57)
Bocrockett
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 11:48amI wonder if the cake they made to go with the desk was a butter cream icing or fondant? I bet Michelle Obama knows…
Report Post »ThomastonPaine
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:18amBlaze Editors…next time use an actual picture of Versailles…
Report Post »You have inadvertently used a picture of the oval office.
RayOne
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:42amLet Them Eat Cake.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:50amThat’s funny! Visited Versailles in the late 90′s and did see a painting done by my shirt-tail-relative..pretty cool.
Report Post »TROONORTH
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:53am“And in this late breaking story, lint has been found in yet another secret drawer. Authorities are baffled.”
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 10:19amDo you think it says Marie Antoinette was tired of being labeled a “angry white woman”? Truth hurts, doesn’t it?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501708_162-57356780/mrs-obama-tired-of-angry-black-woman-stereotype/?tag=mncol;lst;2
Report Post »ron.brown
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 11:30amLol
Report Post »palmettopalflorida
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:10amYou might consider entering this slim report in the “Worst News Item of the Year” contest. Could hav’a winner.
Report Post »Wat Tyler
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:05amWhat?
Report Post »Wat Tyler
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:00amAren’t they going to tell us what it says?
Report Post »txn4justice
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:03amSure they just found this letter. Sure they did. Sounds so plausible doesn’t it?
Report Post »txn4justice
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 10:22amIt‘s not the letter with Ed McMahon’s face on it, is it?
Report Post »MOLLYPITCHER
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 7:34amWh don’t they wait and tell this story when they find out what the letter says? This is really ho-hum. They must be out of interesting stories this morning.
Report Post »7.62AirMailComeGetIt
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:09amSounds like National Treasure book of secrets with Nic Cage, opened only by a complex mechanical system of secret buttons and locks considered cutting-edge in its day
Report Post »Better Dead Than Red
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 9:52am7.62 That was my first thought too!!
Report Post »proud2bmom
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:42pmIf you read the article it says that the letter details the restoration work he did on the desk.
Report Post »grannyrecipe
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 6:02amWhat’s a King doing with a desk?
Report Post »NIPPOHIPS
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 7:14amWhat did the letter say? “The next country to become a police state will be America”.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:20amWell, OUR KING uses it to schedule his golf outings and vacations, and to
Report Post »solicit bribes to sell what is left of America to unions and wacko left commies – er, I meant
to solicit campaign contributions.
I suspect it also holds his ashtray for his cigarettes and his other smoking materials.
Of course, he needs something to stack up all the MILLIONS of dollar bills he has made since being elected.
But, you are right, our king doesn‘t need one as he doesn’t do any work. In his own words, “I’m kind of lazy.”
LOL
GLENNONALL
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:54amI wonder what letters Romney will find in Obama’s desk next January.
Report Post »RichNGadsden
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 6:09amIt would probably say “See Teleprompter.”
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 7:49amLol!
Report Post »JERSEYJUDE
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:50amhahaha!
Report Post »Sniper48
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:47amDid you see the ad to sell a French rifle? “Never fired and only dropped once.”
Report Post »JWINK56
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 10:14amOMG! i laughed so hard my work mates wanted to know what was so funny!!! thanks sniper48
Report Post »Sniper48
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:43amSo, the French were writing letters and doing woodworking while Americans were fighting nazis just outside in the French streets? Didn’t we do this for the French… TWICE! I guess it was totally in character for the French to stop fighting and just go home from Iraq and Afganistan
Report Post »NoLongerNonPlussed
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 5:43amCirca 1944 anno Domini (Piss on English PC!)
“C’est la vie! Such is life! Soon France will be liberated and we will continue to make silly desks that have no practical value whatsoever, and which cannot be opened, except by dues paying members of the Desk Openers Union.” Viva la France!
Report Post »scrapadapolis
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 3:45amI know exactly what it said.Nothing notes cant speak,The paper to Louie was a note for the building of the desk.Lou did’nt pay because he gave everything to himmler in his retreat.Hittler was left holding the bag.
Report Post »R.A. Bullseye
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 1:29amIt says Louis the xv wasn’t born in France.
Report Post »Slowman101
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:49amThe guy must have been a prophet- it simply said: OBAMA SUCKS!
Report Post »shackero
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 1:16amNow you are one funny dude!!!!!!
Report Post »Californiasodbuster
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:47amThe letter said Nous Remise
Report Post »Californiasodbuster
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 1:00amSoumettre
Report Post »Californiasodbuster
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 1:11amfin
Report Post »AYoungLady
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 2:56pm“We delayed the delivery” is “Nous avons ******é la livraison”.
Report Post »AYoungLady
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 4:45pmOh, the Blaze filters do not like French.
Report Post »nzkiwi
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:29amHere is a picture of the letter. No translation, yet.
How’s your french?
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1113220–wwii-era-letter-discovered-in-louis-xv-desk-at-versailles
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:35amit says
WE SURRENDER
Report Post »Wakeup Maggie
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:17amNo Bo 2012
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:15amWow! Still lots of hidden stuff out there. Hope more secrets are revealed regarding our very own Dearest Leader before its too late.
Report Post »brother_ed
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:53pmReminds of the story of the successful accountant who would look in his drawer everyday before he started work. When he died, his co-workers opened the drawer. To their surprise, the letter read:
Report Post »“Credits go in the right column, debits go in the left”
SRPDS
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 8:07amis this true? oh my. hahahaha
Report Post »CatB
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:45pmLike in the movies … National Treasure the Book of Secrets and the Resolute desk.
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:31pmThe letter was found in one of the desk’s many small drawers, which can be opened only by a complex mechanical system of secret buttons and locks considered cutting-edge in its day.
All that for a receipt for work on the desk? Gotta love the French.
Report Post »lodgerat
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:23pmI couldn’t have too important or they would have printed the letter. I like the “don’t shoot we surrender” note.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:15pmLet me guess…it said: “Don’t shoot, we surrender”!!!
Report Post »Got2bRoni
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:47pmLOL… very funny…..
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:58pm@GOT2BRONI……Everything about the French is funny……except for those mimes…..mimes are scary….way scarier than clowns.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:30amI hate every iota of a mime!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 11, 2012 at 10:23pm1st rule of Mime club is……………
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:14pmIt wasn’t anything really, it just read :
Report Post »“Bread, Eggs, Milk…..note to myself, never trust the Germans. PS, pick up surrender flag from the cleaners.”
Mtremblay
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:22pmLOL. This title was deceiving
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