COVER N. 645 - FRANCE

Postmark: La Poste 08.10.2025 

Posted on the 8th October; Received on the 14th October 2025

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Once again I am visited by Monsieur Gustave Eiffel, the man who conceived wrought iron structures which went well beyond their functional purpose, for monumental masterpieces, art icons, they were.

M. Eiffel has already featured on my humble blog a propos cover #228 but I have to say that I quite like the way the envelope of this particular cover is embellished with a "stuttering" souvenir sheet which works a charm, from a composition point of view.

Un énorme Merci, Daniel!

 

Since all I said about Eiffel on cover #228 still holds, of course, true, I will not elaborate more on the life and deeds of this most famous French Engineer, but I'll register again the fact that the in-taglio one 1,80€ stamp souvenir sheet issued on 27MAR2023, on the occasion of the centenary of Eiffel's death, is a true masterwork of philatelic art, with all the intricate detail present not only on the engineer's portrait that occupies most of the stamp but also in the reproductions of the iron lattice works of the Eiffel Tower, the Gabarit Viaduct and Nice's Observatory cupola, that grace the souvenir sheet frame.

Another thing that I can't help but notice when inspecting the envelope is that the price of a base tariff stamp  for the  international service in France has gone up almost 17% since 2023.

To make up for the 80 cent difference, Daniel used a label of that value affixed on the back of the envelope, so as not to conflict with the beautiful layout on its face.

One final note to mention that the  postmark does not include any information regarding the place of expedition.