Operation TAAF
Episode I - Iles Éparses - cover received 20JUL22
Uncommon and exotic places are a measure of where we stand. In fact what is exotic for me, is the everyday reality of someone else who lives there, but thinking and writing is, most of times, a self-centred exercise, and so I feel I will be excused if I elaborate on the theme from the point of view of my own navel.
These “outworldly” places have a bucketful of charm, we all know, the more so since we will most probably never touch their soil with our feet and all we can do is, more often than not, dream of going there.
Many of theses places are now fully independent countries, with citizens leading their normal everyday lives, what can be a harder proposition by what standards are available to me, since the constraints imposed by geography and weather, if also part of what makes them the source of infinite curiosity and traveller’s longing, are, usually, for the locals, the source of intimate hardship.
A few other places that immediately associate with the adjective "exotic" are what the UN acknowledges as non-self governing territories, corresponding to the definition of territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government, either because their population feels reluctant to embrace independence for fear of economic hardship, or doesn’t even feel that urge, or does not have any deeply rooted sense of nationality, or there is more than one power claiming the territory, these being administered by a few UN member States, namely the UK, France, United States of America and New Zealand.
And then there are claims to territory, particularly in the Antarctic continent, where several powers have installed scientific bases to pursue scientific purposes but also to establish a round the clock presence in the area so as to substantiate their claim.
These places generate all kinds of interest and rank high on the list of general public curiosity so it comes as no surprise that the closer you get to the top and bottom (another self-centred assertion, since my top can well be another men’s bottom, depending on where we stand on the ellipsoid 😊) the more desirable is the proof of being in contact with manifestations of human presence in those places, either collected in person (sigh… sigh… when will I?) or by proxy, such as in the case I’m elaborating about.
The great white, the land where the sun never sets (or never rises…) Could there be any place more exotic, more uncommon for men to settle in and live? Could there be a place more desirable to receive a letter from?
So I set about trying to figure out what would it take to get my letterbox permeated by ice-cold mail, coming from the barren South….
France is one of the countries that has a firm grip on the southern icecap and also administers some other tiny territories located further south than the latitudes at which people usually dwell, these integrating what is known as TAAF - Terres Australes et Antartiques Françaises, which also comprise some deserted, but very important from a conservation standpoint, islands, off the coast of Madagascar.
And so a plan more cunning that any of Badlrick’s was born….
Internet to the rescue and I stumbled upon Jeff’s “My Stamp Stuff” blog, which I do recommend to anyone with an interest in these kind of philatelic yearnings, and also on the Terres Australes et Antartiques Françaises website, both having plenty of very clear information and guidance on how to receive mail from the various territories that integrate the TAAF.
Next step… stamps. TAAF stamps are needed for this, since France’s stamps are not accepted on mail sent from the TAFF.
I also needed to know how much postage to use on the envelopes, but a swift exchange of emails with blogger Eric Contesse (Mon blog timbré) was instrumental in clarifying this.
Buying the stamps was a rather easy problem to fix since one can buy TAAF stamps directly from La Poste website. So I looked about and my eyes immediately fell on this block of 5 stamps, issued on 12JAN2021 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the TAFF. “Now, this is perfect”, thought I, because each one of the stamps on the souvenir sheet is dedicated to one of the five constituent territories of the TAFF, so I could “disintegrate” the sheet to post mail from each of the locations in each stamp, and try to “reunite” the block later, with the stamps duly cancelled.
The order was placed and some days later I had the miniature sheet delivered at my place.
From then on all went according to my cunning plan. The souvenir sheet was cut in 5 irregular parts, each one containing one stamp, and self-addressed envelopes were prepared with the stamps glued duly glued on.
5 letters were also prepared to be sent to the postmasters at each of the territories, following the already mentioned guidance, each of them containing the relevant self-addressed pre-stamped envelope and a note to Mr. Postmaster, asking, and greatly thanking, him/her for the favour of cancelling the stamps and sending the letters back to me.
The letters were expedited on 13JAN2022. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if the plan was really cunning or one of Baldrick’s and Black Adder’s usual disgraceful moments.
And so the sand steadily flowed from one glass to the other many, many times....
July the 20th 2022, that is to say, 6 months after posting the letters, the first circulated letter popped up in my letterbox.
Not unexpectedly it was the one that was sent from the less southern latitude, the one coming from Europa, one of the Scattered Islands - Les Illes Éparses - located in the Mozambique Channel, in between Mozambique and Madagascar or at Long. 40º 21E / Lat. 22º 21S, as informed by one of the locally applied stamps on the envelope.
The cancellation dates of the 16th May, so it just took 2 months to get here, what is pretty good, I feel, considering the inward journey took double the time.
On the back of the envelope there is also the personal stamp of the Vaguemestre de Europa, which contains the outline of the Island and the image of a green turtle and of a frigate.
I was very happy to receive this first letter, proof that my plan was really cunning... right Baldrik?
more to come....
Hopefully 😀!
