COVER N. 425 - FRANCE

Postmark:  Fête du Timbre - Voyage au fil de l'eau 69 - Oullins 09.03.2024 

Posted on the  9th; received on the 18th March 2024

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"La fête du Timbre" is a annual philatelic event organised by the "French Federation of the Philatelic Associations" in close coordination with the Postal Administration, highlighting the role of the stamp as a vehicle for socio-cultural promotion.

It has been taking place since 1937  and the theme chosen for the current year was "The pleasures of navigation" once again stressing the relevance of carbon neutral means of displacement as viable alternatives to fossil fuelled ones.

As such, if  the bicycle was last year's star of the show, this year all attention was focused on environmental friendly ways of navigating the waters, be it in rivers and lakes or in open seas.

Amidst the several products issued by La Poste for the occasion are, as usual, a single stamp souvenir sheet and a regular stamp.

Un énorme Merci à Eric, pour ce très joli envoi, qui m'a beaucoup plu. 

The souvenir sheet containing a 2,58€ stamp, is illustrated with several examples of leisure navigation means  in inner waters, like rivers and lakes, such as the paddle board  a canoe or an electric driven (presumably) tourist boat, under the approval glance of a kingfisher, while the 1,29 stamp highlights the classic of the classics of open water navigation, the sailling boat.

Both stamps are listed as officially issued on 11MAR24, but as La fête du Timbre took place on the 9th and 10th, the very nice First Day postmark, also graced with the image of a sailing boat, is dated of the 9th, having been issued at Oullins, one of the 85 cities participating in the event.