COVER N. 295 - FRANCE

Postmark: Le Carré d'Encre - Paris 10.08.23

Posted on the 10th August; Received on the 14th August 2023

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I'm finally back from my thirteen days of solo walking the Portuguese Coastal Route of the Way of Saint James, between Porto in the North of Portugal and Santiago de Compostela, Galiza.

Days of intense physical exertion but also of pleasant contemplation of the many beautiful places I went through, both along the coast and the hinterland, sometimes seeing things I've never seen before, be it atmospheric phenomena or animal or plant species. All in all, a journey to be well remembered and the final realisation of a wish that had been inhabiting my own self for more than three decades.

But more of that in due time (I've kept a cover log of the trip, and in the future I'll write a blog entry dedicated to it).  For the time being let me try to reduce the little mountain of covers that I have accumulated since my summer vacation an which I still haven't registered on my blog.

so, without further ado:

The beautiful "Trésors de Notre Dame" series once again takes the spotlight on this beautiful cover, sent from the French Capital. Thank you so much Roland, what not to love about the beautiful souvenir sheet and its seafaring companion? 

Given that this is the second cover I got with this beautiful sheet, I'll recommend visiting post for Cover #285,

As stated on that particular post, so far four of these beautiful souvenir sheets have been issued and I am lucky to examples of all four thanks to the generosity of French fellow collectors.

The 2020 issue can be seen here

the 2021 issue can be seen here.

the  2022 issue can be seen here  or here.

As for "la Tortue luth" (Dermochelys coriacea), the Leatherback sea turtle, on the 0,41 € stamp, it is part of a four stamp set, issued on 05JUN2002, dedicated to marine life.

The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all turtles, weighing up to 500 kg, and its distinctive feature, from where she got its name, is the fact that, contrary to their cousins, they don't have a scaly, bony shell but a flexible leathery one. With a rather global distribution, the leatherneck is listed as Vulnerable, in what concerns its IUCN conservation status.

One night in Mexico, on the Yucatan peninsula, I had the pleasure of watching new born leatherneck and loggerhead turtles find their way from the hatching enclosure where the eggs had been kept by conservationists to the Gulf of Mexico waters,,,, I wonder if the little leatherneck I helped along is still swimming somewhere.... I hope so, at least; it is said that they can live up to 100 years...

The Postmark tells us that the letter was mailed from Le Carré d'Encre, which I understand is a special boutique  of La Poste, dedicated to philately and writing, located in Paris.