#125 France 09/01/23

Cover from France, posted in Varces Allieres et Risset Cedex on January 23, 2009. The attached mini-sheet depicts the ermine or stoat (Mustela erminea).

Thank you, my French friend, for sending me this nice cover!

#118 France 09/02/05

Thank you, Eric, for this bautiful FDC from France, which was posted in Lyon on February 5, 2009!

The FDC commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Fondation de France, which is a private foundation supporting philanthropic, educational, social, scientific, and cultural projects.

Eric applied three additional stamps: The top left one commemorates the French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro, the middle one commemorates René I. of Anjou (1409-1480). The bottom stamp commemorates the 200th birth of Louis Braille (1809-1852), the inventor of the famous braille script for visually impaired people.

#109 France 09/01/01

Cover from France, posted in Paris on January 1, 2009.

Roland sent me this fine cover with a 2006 stamp, which is depicting the painting “Baigneuses” (Bathers) by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), and two special cancellations “Meilleurs Voeux 2009″ (Best Wishes 2009). Thank you!

France 08/12/23

Cover from France, posted in Montpellier on December 23, 2008.

This nice cover has attached a part of the 2008 “Bateaux célèbres” (famous ships) mini-sheet. The two right stamps are of the set “Bonnes Fêtes” (Nice holidays), which was issued on November 10, 2008. They have no imprinted value, instead there is the inscription “Lettre prioritaire 20 g” (priority letter of 20 g).

France 08/12/11

Cover from France, posted at the Musée de la Poste in Paris on December 11, 2008.

This nice cover has attached a 1999 surcharge stamp of the value of 0.46 + 0.09 euro resp. 3.00 + 0.60 francs. The right stamp was issued on July 4, 2005, and commemorates the French sculptor François Pompon (1856-1933).

Roland, thank You for this nice cover!

France 08/11/26

Cover from France, posted in Paris on November 26, 2008.

Thomas sent me this nice cover with a black definitive “Marianne” stamp of 10 cent and a 55 cent stamp of 2008, which commemorates the armistice after World War I. Thank you!

France 08/11

Cover from France, posted in November 2008.

This interesting cover was sent to me by Thomas, thank you!

The left stamp was issued in 1972 and has a face value of 0.50 francs. It commemorates the 45th “Congress National de la Federation des Societes Philateliques Françaises St-Brieuc”.

The next stamp was issued in 1977 and depicts the Château de Vitré. It has a face value of 2.40 francs. The middle stamp commemorates the baroque Château de Maisons-Laffitte. It has a face value of 0.45 francs and was issued in 1979.

The right stamp commemorates the 50th anniversary of the tennis tournament French Open at the Roland Garros Stadium, which was named after the aviator, who made the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea. The stamp has a face value of 1 francs and was issued in 1978.

Interestingly, only the two right stamps were cancelled.

France 08/11

Eric sent me some beautiful covers from the 62nd Salon Philatélique d’Automne 2008 in Paris. This philatelic event was held from November 6 to 9.

The first cover was cancelled on November 6, 2008; the left stamps are a joint issue of Isreali and French post. They commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They show the departure and arrival of the first postal flight from Haifa to Paris. The right stamp is an ATM label commemorating the philatelic event.

To make this cover perfect, it was signed by the designer of the left stamps, Pierre-Andre Cousin!

The stamps of the second cover are one half of the booklet “Faces of the 5th Republic”, which was issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 5th French Republic. They depict the famous Marianne. The bottom two stamps are part of the booklet “Happy Holidays”, which was issued on November 8.

Eric wrote a detailed article about this event and the stamps; it can be found here.

Thank you for this beautiful covers!

France 2008/10/27

Cover from France, posted in Lyon on October 27, 2008.

The top left stamp is the 2008 EUROPA issue of the French post. The top right stamps are part of a mini-sheet commemorating French lighthouses, which was issued on November 12, 2007. The stamps show the lighthouses in Porquerolles and Chassiron. The stamps have a face value of 54 cent.

The stamp in the bottom left corner is part of the mini-sheet “Bloc Grands projets européens” (Mini-sheet Great European Projects), which was issued on July 1, 2008. The stamp depicts the satellite Galileo, which is intended as a global navigation system that is an alternative to GPS (USA) and GLONASS (Russia). It has a face value of 55 cent, which is one cent more than the 2007 stamps (did the French post raise the postage by one cent last year?).

Eric, thank you for this beautiful cover!

France 2008/10/13

Cover from France, posted in Saint-Étienne on October 13, 2008.

The left two stamps are part of the mini-sheet “Bloc Beijing – Jeux Olympiques de Pékin”, which was issued by the French post on July 28, 2008, and commemorates the Olympic Games in Beijing. The right stamp is part of the mini-sheet “Bloc Bateaux célèbres” commemorating famous ships. This mini-sheet was issued on June 23, 2008.

The two stamps at the bottom are of the new definitive stamp series depicting the well-known Marianne.

Thank you, Eric, for sending me this beautiful cover!