A bottle in the sea, the start of a friendship

Last summer, the Chasseur family spent a few days in the French seaside resort of Bray-Dunes, a stone's throw from the Belgian border. What can you do to forget about Corona? Draw a picture of a unicorn, add your name and a message, put it in a bottle and throw it into the sea after adding a pencil and a five-euro note. Add a mini sail that protrudes from the neck of the bottle, so that the current and the wind have free rein to carry your work of art along with the current. On Thursday 20 August 2020, the weather forecast was predicting a storm. It was the perfect time. The bottle was placed in the water and was soon out of sight.

On Wednesday 24 March 2021, a letter addressed to 3-year-old Elie and her older sister Alix, landed in the Chasseurs' letterbox in Forchies-la-Marche, Hainaut. It came from Peter Michelsen, who regularly relaxed on the beach of the Danish island of Wadden Fanø off the coast of Jutland where he lives. Once he had had the original text translated, he did not hesitate for a second. He immediately took up his pen to reply to the three-year-old Belgian sender whose bottle had finally washed up on the beach, seven months later and 700 km away. It is a beautiful story, and was reported by the Danish press.

The Michelsens have invited the Chasseur family to pay them a visit. Perhaps later, once the Coronavirus has been defeated, a beautiful friendship will be formed in Fanø.