COVER N. 359 - FRANCE

Postmark: 89 Avallon Yonne 08.11.2023

Posted on the 8th November; received on the 14th November 2023

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Echoes of Poirot and luxury trains, this time, on a cover with two absolutely splendid philatelic pieces of art, all under the supervision of Marianne, l'engagée.

An absolute marvel. Pas de paroles pour dire combien j'aime ce bloc, Jean-Pierre, un énorme merci, et merci aussi pour les merveilleux timbres des TAFF!

In 1883, long before the days of low cost air travel, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits established one of the most famous and, later on high keyed, train services that ever was: The Orient Express, which, when fully established, ensured the full crossing of the European continent between Paris and what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul in about 3 days.

After the service interruption caused by the "war to end all wars", travel conditions in the  Orient Express would improve greatly with the introduction of sleeping cars and  a restaurant car, and by the 1930s, the service would be synonymous with luxury and social relevance and many were the royals and  the affluent who would be seduced by the possibility of doing what it took to  participate in a mundane conversation  with a sentence beginning by "one night, on the orient express...." 

The decadence of the service began with the second world war, when it was again interrupted. The geopolitical configuration that Europe was to know following the silencing of the guns and  the fact that two rather antagonistic blocks created new and almost insurmountable barriers to free circulation posed new constraints, both operational and political. Also, the evolution of air transport, new developments in train technology, namely  High Speed Train services, further complicated the operation environment for such a long distance route  and finally, in 1977 the direct Paris to Istanbul service came to an end.

Celebrating the 140th anniversary of the Orient Express, La Poste issued on 02OCT2023 the amazing souvenir sheet on the cover, containing one 1,80€ stamp, illustrated with an image of a steam locomotive pulling the Orient Express full speed ahead, while on the background the mountains are drawn to the shape of a sleeping face, an allegory for the  then innovating Wagons-Lits which allowed passengers their night rest in  most comfortable and luxurious conditions.

On the sheet, Paris the point of departure is on the left, symbolized by the Eiffel Tower, while the train is ridding towards its final destination, Istanbul, on the right, symbolised by the image of Agia Sophia, all the elements in the composition wrapped in blue and gold, quite evocative of  the stuff of dreams and class.

Illuminations are usually so intricate, colourful and downright beautiful, that I could not think of anything that would go any better on the side of the orient express souvenir sheet than the gorgeous 1,80€ stamp, of the series métiers d'art, issued on 02OCT2013, which can also be seen on the cover.

Iluminations are a thing of the past, I would think. No! The issue notes on the La Poste website even informed me that there is an European Higher Studies Institute of the Illuminations and Manuscripts at Angers and also that, in France, there are sixty artists officially recognised as experts in the field, whose skills and competence are called upon for such differing reasons as the restoration of documents or publicity campaigns...

The square stamp, a trademark of the series, is embellished with a beautifully illuminated E, which I presume stands for the Métier in question, that of the Enlumineur.

Postage was completed withr two 0,05€ stamps of the Marianne L'engagée set, issued on 20JUL2018

The Postmark indicates that the letter was mailled from Avallon, a town in the Yonne Department, of the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region in central eastern France.