COVERS N. 456/457 - FRANCE

Postmark: Service des Oblitérations Philatéliques 24 Boulazac 23.05.2024 

                  Le Carré d'Encre Paris 25.05.2024

Posted on the 23rd and 25th May; received on the 28th and 29th May 2024

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Thank you so much Roland and Jean-Pierre for your care in making sure that I would not miss the last bloc-feuillet of the amazing Trésors de Notre-Dame series. I really love this series and what it stands for, since preserving the past is ensuring that the memories of the great realisations of our species will be available for those who will come after us to study, enjoy and, hopefully, improve upon. Un grand Merci à vous deux!

Calling on the attention of the world to the outstanding restoration work that Notre-Dame Cathedral was subject to, fallowing the tragic fire of 15 April 2029, La Poste,  in 2020, initiated  an annual issue of outstanding in-taglio printed single stamp souvenir sheets entitled "Trésors de Notre-Dame", which was scheduled to end when the restoration works were finally completed, something which will happen later this year.

Five great pieces of philatelic art were thus produced and the last one, this year's, issued on 15APR2024, had to be dedicated to the roof, since with its conclusion and the spire in place  the cathedral is now looking almost ready for its reopening, which will take place in December.

Technically, it is not the roof, but the structure that supports it, the so called "La Charpente". 

Let me just paste here the comments I wrote about this same bloc-feuillet on post regarding cover #451:

"I read the release notes for the souvenir sheet and watched a couple of videos on the internet on the Charpente reconstruction and I have to say that it was nothing short of amazing (as of course is all the reconstruction work of such an ioportant monument).

About 1400 oak trees had to give their life so that the necessary timber could be made available to execute the intricate woodwork, an operation that called on the expertise of a team of dedicated carpenters who replicated in every single detail, down to the personal markings of their colleagues who had rebuilt the roof following a previous fire in the 18th century, the original structure.

Special tools were also made to work the wood and the original joining techniques were also followed to ensure the most exact replication possible.

A nice touch was also added by the new carpenters who, like their colleagues of yore, also inscribed their own personal markings, in a rather discreet manner, of course, in the wooden beams.

It is great to see that in spite of the terrible fire that ravaged through its wall, this amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site is on its way to regain its former splendour."