Gisèle, tireless delivery girl for La Dépêche du Midi, has been traveling the roads of Gers for 15 years

She knows the roads by heart, the shortcuts and the country lanes. At 56 years old, Gisèle has been traveling these paths every day for almost fifteen years. She is a porter for La Dépêche du Midi. Every day, whatever the weather, rain, wind or snow, public holiday, Saturday and Sunday, she delivers the newspaper to more than 150 customers.

So that clients start their day with their newspaper, Gisèle does not hesitate to get up before dawn, even at Christmas. On December 25, readers in Pavie, Orbessan and Auterive received today's edition under their tree.

Wake up at 3 a.m., or even a little earlier for some delivery people. It is in Auch that the stacks of newspapers are received in a depot, after having been freshly printed in Toulouse at the newspaper's headquarters. It is here that they are then packaged in stacks then collected by the carriers to be delivered to the reader, to tobacco shops or even shopping centers.

With a teasing look, wearing a Christmas hat and a smile on her lips, Gisèle arrives at the depot. Its strong character allows it to break the ice quite quickly. “You’re going to give me a hand, Mr. Journalist!” Departure at 4 a.m., direction the first mailbox in Pavia. A tour without GPS as usual.

“15 years ago, after a divorce, life brought me back to the Gers and I had to work. I don’t like to stay without doing anything,” says Gisèle. She meets a porter by chance with whom she becomes friends. The latter, also working during the day, was looking for an acolyte to keep him awake. “He said to me 'you don't want to come with me one day to distribute La Dépêche, you'll see my work like that'. And I accepted, I did one morning then two and I fell into the pot,” explains Gisèle.

Today, she does this job to make ends meet. Alongside this additional income, Gisèle is a maintenance worker. Days that may seem endless, but the Gersoise puts things into perspective. “You have to pay the bills, it’s difficult to have a social life with that,” she says. However, she can count on the goodwill of her customers. “They give me free access to the mailbox, so I don’t have to get out of my car!”

Readers who become friends

In fifteen years, she traveled kilometers of Gers roads, from east to west, from south to north, to deliver the newspaper. Years during which the local radio morning workers accompanied her, just like her Renault Clio which shows almost 445,000 km on the odometer. “What I like about this job is being alone, there is no one on the roads, I have my little music. In spring and autumn I love the smell that nature gives off and then there are also the sunrises!”, she confesses.

But in the morning, Gisèle sometimes comes across certain avid readers who are impatiently waiting for their newspaper in front of the mailbox. “I sometimes stop for coffee when they offer it to me.” Around 7 a.m., she hand-delivers La Dépêche du jour to Josiane, a reader who, over the years, has become a friend. A moment of respite after the kilometers traveled.

For around fifteen minutes, over a hot cup, the two women exchange a few words. “In winter, it’s nice!” confides Gisèle. And then it's gone again. “Some are very old, often isolated,” she explains. So, she doesn't hesitate to take a few minutes of her time to be good company, like with this other reader. “She spends Christmas alone every year, so every year we share breakfast.”

Moments marked with humanity, which nevertheless do not prevent him from meeting deadlines. “Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., if all goes well, it’s done!” And she doesn't believe it so well, at 8 o'clock, all the newspapers were delivered.