On The Road Again - Eye To Eye With The Local Postal Authority

Well, we are across the pass, so we are back to the "Grande Nation" (France on France). And true, it is beautiful there.

Here are a few stamps in honour of the Pyrenees. To those who complain, that I have already shown in my contribution from 16.04.26 bears and chamois, to them I say, that that this is right but the now depicted ones in contrast just happen to speak French.



But now, let us roll down the mountains softly and while we are at it, have a look on something that might attract our attention: women, women, women.

There are (in contrast to Germany – there I could only think of the Germania-issues and the women of achievement-issue from the 1990ies) a lot of women displayed on definites, and that not at the end of their life-achievements, but in the midst of their life and not hiding attractivity, though of course designed according to the contemporary taste. So, the French are neither afraid of sensibility nor to arouse attention. I predict, we are going to see some specimen in my coming contributions.

To prove my point, I first take to older material (always a good way to appeal to those as well, who feel overstrained by the modern). A Ceres (Roman goddess of fertility) from 1870.



As a reminder: the French emperor had gambled in 1870 and lost and consequently was replaced by the republic. And they have decided for this allegory or have remembered themselves of the design which had been used some previous years before.

But now we have arrived at the mediterranean shoreline, in Perpignian - which by the above quoted Pyrenee-treaty, which was in fact a deed of annexation, as part of the Northern Catalonian area, came to France. Unfortunately, my quarters were – though provided with an awe-inspiring name – shallow (…by the way we currently have no warm water, so my patronne told me, but only after she had sold me the room and I had taken a shower – so, I was able to confirm her). Visit of the historic center, which seemed to be fully arabicised at the time, and I also strolled past the King of Mallorca's palace.

Time to visit the post office I had as well. Larger towns in France have special postmarks at hand, which are employed on demand. When you are there, simply ask for it – if you know more about it, i.e. about a register in which cities they are all on hand, please let us know. From a visit this year to France I am able to report they are still in use.

And look you here, a Perpignan-stamp I found in my luggage as well. Thus, I could greet friends so



And we can already see a few Mariannes on the item (de Luquet, Eva Luquet was the designer of this issue which ran from 1997 to 2005) used as stamps to supplement to the required amount of EUR 0,46 in total.

Mariannes that are the attractive revolutionaries by profession from France (a highly esteemed allegory of the republican France).

As stamp collectors are a bunch of weirdos, some will probably roll their eyes in annoyance and ask themselves the only question that really matters to them regarding the entire article: namely, whether these are the version with of without the phosphor stripe.

If I were to advise you, to take now your test lamp up to the screen, you would maybe (and rightly so) feel like I was pulling your leg. Also, I don't have the original (it was just temporarily given to me from the recipient).

That bothered me, so I started thinking how I could solve the riddle. And then my longtime memory advised me to have a look at my stock for postage (which must always keep ready on demand to accompany me, should they be called on for a mission in their country of origin). Hadn't I had bought a full sheet by the time, I wondered? If so, there should be a few remaining. And so it is, it is the version with the phosphor stripe.

It was still time to the end of my holidays, thus I could shorten the distance to my dwelling cave in no hurry. Why not take some time to explore the mediterranean coast at a leisurely pace.

And that is a contrast, as after summits in high-altitude mountains one finds oneself in an all in all preponderantly plane region, predominated by salt marshes. For once, it was neither warm or cold at times, but only warm all the time. But travelling is looking for such contrasts and triggers for the traveller the necessity to adapt. If done successfully, this is proof of an ability to cope with life, flexibility and vigour.

It is about 100 km until we arrive in the town Béziers, which I had the opportunity to visit during childhood days with the family years ago.

I arrived on a Friday evening and the town was quite humming. The evening commenced for the folk with a round promenade (in anticlockwise direction) through the Parque de Évèques. To see and be seen. What fun to look what's going on and who is presenting himself. I remember quite well the impression of a young woman with her predecessor's roots in the Congo, I'd say—tall, athletic, self-assured, and graceful. That's how it is in France: there are many people with roots in France's former colonial empire, and that was so different from what Germany was like at that time.

But there were more important things to do the next morning, that is to visit the nearby post office (in the vicinity of the town hall). I expected the local special handstamp there. As it was, it was rather busy there, as apparently a lot of pensioneers were present to withdraw their pension which must have become due that very day. However, I had to wait quite a long time. Alas, when it was my turn, I got informed that the local special handstamp was not to be found there, as I was in the wrong post office, mine was not the main one. To get to the right venue would have meant to make my way through the town with the danger to end up in another long queue, which I didn't fancy (though it was a pity, and the level of my regret, you may derive from the fact that I can remember the event to the present day).



And hadn't I had promised lassies? Well, I have – and so I show you today for the quote of historic material the issue "Peace and Trade", also known as type Sage (which is the name of the Stamps's designer). Here we see on the left a woman holding an olive branch representing the peace and on the right to me as man of commerce an important god, namely Hermes. All this in front of a globe.



This definite issue was in use from 1876 to 1900. So, it seems that with the nudity of Madam Peace the French apparently hadn't had any problem.
When it comes to this issue I find it beautiful that the stamps have been printed on matching coloured paper. As to the obliterations I chose in respect of my sojourn a postmark on the 15 centimes-stamp being one of the town Beziers. On the issue shown on the right I find the town name of Algiers worth to point to (as until 1920 Algerians used French stamps. Algeria was reckoned to be a part of France itself for decades, not to be a colony).

As I myself being a merchant, I always love when money and goods circulate, and this around the world. At the time one could mail one's business letters with this divine protection on it. Marvelous! I would love to see my mail expedited with such stamps put on the items. But wait, mint stamps of that issue would still be valid for postage until this very day, but inflation makes any reasonable use of these stamps impossible, though it not prohibits it
But philatelists of the present are still able to claw back on the special issue to commemorate the 100. Anniversary of the release of the original issue.



And now to the voyage



above: astoundingly beautifully itched stamp displaying the cathedral of Béziers (where the people chose to promenade as described)
middle: accompanied me in French: Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Christo. Everyone knows the plot, thus excellently qualifying for training in vocabular. Again and again good to read. Men do love stories of vengeance. I prefer the stamp from 1970 to the design of the 2002 issue.
below: We say goodbye to Béziers and drive further on to the east, along the coast. There lies the city of Agde. When after the trip, I now and then reported of the stations of my travel, I named the village and remarked that the mood of one listener peculiarly lifted. Well, the reason for that is– and I had to read that fact up – that Agde is famous for his nude beaches and a certain Sex-Club-Scene throughout the country. Now, I knew the town from the map and from a stamp issue. And that issue shows the young man from Agde, one in the 1960ies in the bed of the Herault river found Hellenic figure of brass (which doesn't show a swinger, but it is said to display Alexander the Great). The statue is likely to be used as a light holder in a roman nobleman's house).

The stamp itself I acquired myself in 1983 from my personal allowance at the counters of a post office during a holiday in France, for FRF 4,00 – a by the time enormous amount of money for me. So, for 43 years in my possession, and that is why the stamp alone could be regarded to be an antiquity. And who itched this beautiful work of art? No one less than the famous Czeslaw Slania. Since 1961 until this day the French postal administration issues in this specific format stamps displaying pieces of art, always in the top price bracket of postage.

Remarkable in design and effectuation, and it is my pleasure to be able to point that out today to the interested public.

So, let's move further on – along the coast line. There one finds a lot of Étangs, these are more or less from the sea precluded waters with long beaches to the seafront side.



There the German masculine traveller has to proof himself towards his local contender. Those who mean well might find them proud, others would say vain. Now, that the French emblem is the cock (stamp above left), no wonder that one's own comb swells when being confronted with a overdoing bragging rooster. However, I remember such a moment.

Well yes, the German-French antagonism. What does Jacques Rivière (French author, who was 1914 taken prisoner of war for four years in Germany, whose impressions he later described in his essay „L'Allemand") say to that:
• Well, Germans may be supposed to be strong and steadfast, but aren't in the least qualified to be fervent lovers. They lack in wildness and sensuality, thus unable to comprehend live as an adventure.
• As with the French their souls are breathing to swiftly, they jump to conclusions and are willing to accept any kind of injustice, as they might always justify it with claiming to be French and thus being possessed with a unique grade of passion.

I found these thoughts entertaining, so I shared them today. From a philatelic perspective, it's true that Germans are killjoys (stamps in DEM are no longer valid), and the French simply allow more variety (as almost all stamps are still valid for postage – and yes, you will find me harping on this point all the time).

But let's return to the local geography: one passes the village of La Grand Motte (true fact: it was the French answer to the success of the Spanish in regards to organise and attract mass tourism, a short while ago lauded in culture column in my German newspaper). On that day I had no luck in finding an accomodation to stay there, but the tourist information helped me secure a room in a historic inn in nearby Aigues-Mortes (a fantastic little romantic fortified town)—see the stamp in the upper right corner. From time to time you've to have a little luck in life.

And now we advance further through the glowing hot area of the Carmargue, for me it seemed so hot and life hostile that I couldn't take any pleasure in the region. It is famous of its white horses, which are in fact to be found there on the pastures. They have been honoured by the artist Yves Brayer by a famous painting, which was a template for a stamp (above middle).

The next task was to cross the river Rhone, the river delta was an obstacle and I couldn't make out any opportunity to cross it along the coast line. Rather I saw on the map only cul des sac-roads and industrial compounds. Therefore, I decided to go over the stream near Arles und stay a day in the interior. After Salon en Provence I swung in again in direction of the coast and at Cassis hit the seaside again. The beauty of the region has been acknowledged by the French postal administration (stamp down left).

West of Toulon the worth a visit department Var begins (stamp below left, pines and a remarkable coast line are typical of the region). It starts to get posh, and some nice accomodations were to be found alongside the road. One of which stood out by its club-like arrangement which remembered me of the golden era of the 1960ies (during which a in Germany famous heir and playboy Gunter Sachs was on the prowl on his Mammuth-motorcycle).

And life is full of surprises: one befell me in La Londe: where I was informed by a charming female postal clerk that the French Post had increased their postage rate by EUR 0,04 to EUR 0,54. And charming lady or not, I had to buy and put on extra postage on the already prepared postcard.



From Rayol Canadel I sent another card to Germany (but put that in the post box to dogde the EUR 0,04 surcharge, that worked) before entering a beautiful scenic road which led to St. Tropez. I recommend to visit the charming harbour area. I found it interesting to see that all the impressive yachts showed the colours of some tax evasion-destination with Union Jack-quotes on their flags, not one had the French tricolore at the stern.



Anything missing?. Oh – yes, women. Right, I have something for you here. The issues as per type Blanc from 1900, that was the template for the small amount issues (below Francs 0,10) of that era.

Displayed we find a female goddess of liberty, with a phyrgian cap on, the left breast uncovered (as with the famous picture by Delacroix showing the ambush on the Bastille). A pair of scales in the right hand stands for equality, the embracing puttos for fraternity.

And I caught another detail, that is a mirror in the hand of Lady liberty. The mirror is known as an attribute of the goddess Aphrodite, who is the goddess of love and beauty. On the stamp Lady Liberty holds as well a branch of laurel in her left hand.

Type Blanc was in circulation until 1932, I find it interesting to see how many different hues can be discovered, it's my pleasure to show some examples.



So much for today for all friends of practised philately.