A chair used by a British student to declare his love for a French classmate in 1994 has been claimed by the object of his affection.
His note seems to have been carved into the chair with a compass point, and reads: “J’aime Estelle Martin. LCE Anglais. C’est la plus belle fille de la fac” (“I love Estelle Martin. LCE [short form of a French university course called Langues et Cultures Étrangères] English. She is the prettiest girl in uni).”
The chair was discovered by a second-hand furniture dealer called Céline Maurice, who started her business after becoming disillusioned with journalism and PR work.
It was in a lot of 12 chairs, which originally came from a university faculty in Chambéry (Savoie).
She was intrigued by the inscription and used social media to try and track down the plus belle fille de la fac.
“At first it seemed impossible because Martin is one of the most common French surnames,” she said.
“But as the social media buzz about my quest grew, I was contacted by an academic who used to teach LCE courses at Chambéry, and he found records showing that an Estelle Martin had been enrolled in the university between 1994 and 1996.
At the time, two-year university courses were common in France; three-year bachelor’s degrees have only been adopted across the country in the past decade.
Ad
Ms Maurice published the new information but did not get any closer for months.
“All sorts of characters popped up offering to help – one was a diviner who said they could use a pendulum and a map to trace her. However, when she tried it the result was, to say it politely, not convincing.”
Then, out of the blue she got a call from Estelle Martin herself, who by chance was living relatively close by.
“I offered her the chair and she accepted,” Ms Maurice said.
She added that Ms Martin, who is now a teacher, lived a very “discreet” life. She is not on social media but was told of the chair by family members who are.
“She told me the boy was called Richard, that he was an exchange student from London on an Erasmus scheme, and that they were in love for two years.
“When the course ended, he went back to London and although they tried to make the long-distance relationship work, it ended.
“She said there were various reasons for the split, one of which was the fact he was Jewish and some members of her family made an issue of it, which added to their difficulties.”
Ms Maurice said that although she had enough information to reach out to Richard in London through social media, she did not want to.
“Who knows what their lives are after 30 years apart,” she said.
“I do not want to shake things up – if they want to I am sure they will be able to make contact again.
“I am just pleased to have solved the mystery of the plus belle fille de la fac.
