COVER N. 224 - FRANCE

Postmark: Fête du Timbre - Le timbre fait du vélo - 69 - Lyon - 11.03.23  

Posted on the 11th March; Received on the 16th March 2023

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Again Eric decided to generously surprise me with a great cover from La Fête du Timbre, which this year is dedicated to that most friendly and efficient manpowered vehicle: the bicycle.

Thanks a lot Eric, as always I couldn't be more grateful and I'll do my best to reciprocate as soon as possible, even though this year the Portuguese stamps issuing programme has been affected by a rather late start...

For a number of years, I was an assiduous user of an electric bicycle on my daily commuting between home and work. I would cycle up to the train station, get on the train to Lisbon, since the Tagus had to be crossed, and once arrived at the station, I'd cycle again to my workplace.

I was absolutely happy with that, come rain or shine: no more traffic jams, I had great fun riding, and apart from one or two punctures, a couple of  light falls  and having once been rammed by a car driver that was probably still asleep, all went exceedingly well, until the day my cardiologist told me cycling was out of the question, due to an arrhythmia condition I had developed (oh the joys of "maturing"....)

Anyway, I do think that bicycles have come to stay and even in hilly cities once thought to be uncycleable, like Lisbon, the number of those who pedal their way from here to there is increasing with each day that passes.

A sign of times, no doubt.... I still remember the days when bicycles were the vehicle of choice of the dispossessed,  the days when buying a car, even if  the simplest and the cheapest of them all,  was a day of celebration and infinite joy, since having one's own car was, in a way, synonymous with  achievement... going up the social ladder.... 

My father was  so happy when he finally managed to buy his first car,... I was already 6 and my sister 10... (although he quickly managed to wipe the smile out of his face the very next day, when he quite successfully "altered" the physiognomy of the luggage compartment door of his hard earned Austin mini 850 against the entrance of the bar that was located right across the street from our house.... luckily the tables that were usually there  full of retired man chatting over a beer, had already been stored for the day...).

Then, some years ago, someone had the idea of  marketing the bicycle as a radical sports implement.... the mountain bike was born... and so the humble 2 wheeler became a object of desire for the affluent, who immediately took to cycling  and to parading their expensive off road penny-farthings....

I digress, I know, but that's the beauty of stamps, I presume.... all it takes is a look at them and a train (or, should I say, a bicycle) of thought ensues...

La Fête du Timbre is an event that takes place each year since 1937, during which  French philatelic associations in close coordination with the Postal Administration organise several sessions and activities highlighting the role of the stamp as a vehicle for socio-cultural promotion.

For the occasion,  La Poste  issues philatelic products highlighting the chosen theme  for the year.

This year's La Fête du Timbre took place over the weekend of 11-12 March, and further to the  souvenir sheet on the cover Eric so kindly sent me, a very nice 1,16€ stamp illustrated with an electric bicycle was issued on the same date.