COVER N. 323 - FRANCE 

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique 48 - Mende R P 19.09.2023

Posted on the 19th September; received on the 26th September 2023

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I have an imense backlog of covers and postcards to post on this humble blog of mine.

I have been away for quite a few days now and then but (thankfully) the flow of beautifull covers finishing their journey on my letterbox has not dwindled during these intermissions, so I haven't been able to catch up with time.

I am a slow writer, too. Writting, at least for me, is hard work, the more so when you try to do it in a language which is not your native one and on topics generated by the simple exercise of looking at an envelope or a postcard, so I'm not that surprised to  see that I normally can't manage to complete more than one post a day.

This said, I also have to find a way of getting back on track or else things will only get worse, which, again, is not a bad thing, since it is an indicator of how successful my decision to start collecting covers from all over the world has been, thanks to the many friends who have been kind enough to contribute to this aim, either by direct mail or through cover circuits.

One nice example of this is the beautiful cover I received from Daniel. Absolutely tops, from the stamps to the rather classy envelope with that lovely "Par Avion" band on the bottom. Un grand Merci, Daniel!

Stamps Left to right:

Between 1975 and 1984 the French PTT, issued on a yearly basis a series of stamps dedicated to the then existing French Administrative Regions which were redefined in 2016. The stamp on the cover was issued on 21JAN1978 and is dedicated to the region of Haute-Normandie, being illustrtaed with an image of the Normandie cliffs, a stilised seagul (?) a ship and a refinery, hinting at the main industrial activities of the region, and a flax flower, for linen is also one of the main products of the region.

Marianne smiles at us on the 0,10€ stamp part of the Marianne et la Jeunesse issue of 15JUL2013.

On 23APR2001 La Poste issued a four stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to woodland animals. The red squirrel on the 0,41€ or 2,70 Franc, for during the transition to the Euro phase stamps carried both denominations, was included on that sheet which also had stamps illustrated with a Roe Deer (0,46 €, 3 Franc), a Stoat (0,69€, 4,5 Franc) and an European hedgehog (also denominated at 0,46 €, 3 Franc).

On 11JAN2021 la Poste issued another four stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to Island birds. The 1,08 € stamp on the cover illustrated with a painting of a male (females have dark brown upper plumage and a streaked breast) Reunion cuckooshrike (Lalage newtoni) was part of that set. The Reunion cuckooshrike, endemic to Reunion Island is  critically endangered, the existing birds living within a 16 square km area. 

The very clear postmark informs us that the cover was mailed from the Bureau Philatélique of Mende, in the Lozère department in the South of France.