COVER N. 430 - FRANCE

Postmark:  Service des Oblitérations Philatéliques 24 - Boulazac - 21.03.2024 

Posted on the 21st March; received on the 25th March 2024

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Fast service on this last Cover I received from France, Posted in France on a Thursday an received at my place in Portugal on the very next Monday.... all that and no double obliteration on the stamps... Excellent service.

In turn, on the following day, I received a  cover I had sent to the S. Miguel, in the Azores, to get it cancelled with a commemorative postmark issued on the 13th September..... since I sent the cover at least a week before that date, one can say it took a while 😀. I had already completely forgotten about it.  In truth what really matters is that I got it back and it is now in my collection, but it is not the first time that philatelic mail from the Azores takes a bit of time to get back to me. Blame it on the anticyclone...😀

The Olympic Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will take place in Paris between 26 July and 11 August, this year. 

In a world so deeply troubled by outrageous conflicts that bring out the worst in Man in several places, like Sudan, Ukraine, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Mali, Central-African Republic,  Yemen; Somalia; Afghanistan (and I am surely forgetting some...) let's hope that participating athletes live up to the Games' motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius", showing that human energies can be directed at much more positive things than inflicting pain and suffering on your next door neighbour.

Not that it has been issued recently, but the 1,30 € stamp featuring a kayakist is a harbinger of what is to be expected this year in letters from France: lots of sport and Olympic games related stamps, I presume.

This particular stamp was issued in 2019 as part of a 6 1,30€ stamp circular minisheet, dedicated to sports. Besides the Kayakist the set comprised stamps highlighting Volleyball, Soccer, Ring hockey; table tennis and adapted basketball.

The 0,66 € stamp illustrated with an image of the Chinese city of Nanking, was issued on 27MAR2016 and is part of a two stamp joint issue with China. The companion stamp o  the set, with a face value of 0,98 €, featured an iconic view of the city of lights, with Notre Dame Cathedral dead centre behind  the  "Pont de la Tournelle" and "Pont de L'Archevêché".