COVER N. 238 - FRANCE

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique 31 - Toulouse Capitol 

Posted on the 7h April; Received on the 18th April 2023
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Another curious cover from Eric.... who keeps enriching my blog with his generous sendings… thanks a lot, Eric! This time the cover comes  from Toulouse... (Toulouse or not Toulouse, that is the question.....ok, lousy joke, I concede, but I couldn't escape it....)

I have fond memories of Toulouse, I spent a couple of days there quite a number of years ago, but I still retain the images of the great paintings on the walls of the Capitol, and the image of the beautiful  square by night.... also the driverless metro... I had ridden driverless trains before, but not over such a lengthy route....very modern and dandy... quite a contrast to the main set of stamps on the cover Eric sent me with a bunch of beautiful classic cars.

it is a pity that even of covers mailed from the Bureau Philatélique, the dreaded double cancellation is applied by overzealous machines.....(and operators.....)

On 09MAY2000 la Poste, on the occasion of the Philex Jeunes 2000 - a stamp show presumably, that took place at Annecy -  issued a minisheet comprising 10 stamps illustrated with images of classic cars, with a double denomination since it was the time of the transition to the new European currency. As such the stamps had a face value of 1 Franc / 0,15 € 

Half of this sheet is on my cover and it contains stamps featuring such automotive legends as the Bugatti 35, the Citroen traction Avant, the Renaul 4CV, the Simca Chambord and the Hispano-Suiza K6.... I'd be happy to go for a ride in any of these beautiful pieces of Ingeneering, but if I had to choose, I'd take the Traction avant.... and the bugatti...

the other commemorative stamp on the cover features a Rose de Mai -  Cabbage rose (Rosa x centifollia), and is part of  four 4 0,97 € stamp set designated " Fleurs de Grasse et de Mediterranée" (Flowers from Grasse and the Mediterranean), issued on 12JUN2000.

Eric completed the posting tariff with several Marianne stamps from differing issues (l to r):

0,05 - issue of 02OCT2006 - Marianne des Français.

0,01 - isue of 23JUL2018 - Marianne l'engagée

0,01 - issue of 15Jul2013 - Marianne et la Jeunesse 

0,01 - ssue of 17JUN2008 - Marianne et L'Europe

0,01 - ssue of 17JUN2008 - Marianne et L'Europe

Le capitole - Toulouse