The Stamps Of France : By Page.

http://timbreserrones.niloo.fr/upu.htmTranslation

Dulac, Léa representative, wife of his friend the painter Emile Rixens. It was a very good choice for this Marianne of the Liberation, because Lea Rixens had the cross of war, the medal of the resistance and the congratulations of General Eisenhower.
http://club.quomodo.com/amicale-phi...MARIANNE.pdf

perf - thank you - fascinating! Not much about her on the web, and no references in my books about the occupation, hélas.

Well: Lea Rixen died in 1985.She lived 100yrs.Her code name in the resistance was "Tante Lea" ? (further confirmation needed)….

The Marianne of London
It is a French woman that Edmond Dulac took as a model to represent the French Republic, wearing the Phrygian cap. And this French is Lea Rixens, the wife of his friend in Toulouse.
Born September 17, 1885, she died on November 15, 1985, just after celebrating her 100th birthday. He had chosen Lea for her beauty and the pride of her profile. In addition to these gifts of nature, Lea was a great resistance. She was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Resistance Medal. General Eisenhower awarded her a certificate of gratitude for assisting the escape of Allied soldiers, and another certificate was given to her by a British air marshal for her assistance to Commonwealth airmen. Thus, without knowing it (he will learn it after the Liberation), Edmond Dulac had chosen a French heroine honoring our country and who deserved to appear on "our" banknotes.
Translation:
http://fayette-edition.com/article_47.php

Thank you. The wiki link for Dulac's varied career in England

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Dulac

Although Dulac designed the stamp it was engraved by Leonard Vincent Phillips.
http://www.phil-ouest.com/Timbres.p...re=DateVente

I wonder why, if Gibbons is right, the printing moved from Harrison (the designs rejected by de Gaulle) to De La Rue?

Maybe because the war was coming to an end and the quatities of stamps to be printed was
considerable.For economic reasons also.Perhaps De La Rue made a better offer?

Souvenir Card 2001

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (5 February 1626 – 17 April 1696) was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter. She is revered in France as one of the great icons of French 17th-century literature.

And a resident of the most beautiful square in Paris -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Vosges

As was Simenon, who set a murder or two there.

Thank you Geoff.....

Les Voyages de Colette. Cover 20020826.
Colette ( Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954) was a French author and woman of letters nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948; also known as a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette was most widely known for her 1944 novella Gigi (1944), which was the basis for the 1958 film and the 1973 stage production of the same name.

Your letter was cancelled in the Museum of the Post.People could have their letters cancelled with it between 21 may - 31 Aug. 2002.It was an exposition about her personal letters & postcards.(Although the official cancel over the stamps is dated sept. 2 2002)

Rod - you're featuring all my favourite writers and places. Colette's flat was on the rue Beaujolais side of the Palais Royal, above the Vefour restaurant. I like to walk in her footsteps through the square to A La Civette, the tabac she patronised (the area south if the Palais is now the Place Colette).

Thanks Perf12.
Herve's covers to me were always well presented.

Geoff,
I broadcast my ignorance, not in my line of sight, I did see Gigi on celluloid.
My interest is modern French films on DVD
I search every month over here for films of Alain Chabat, or Charlotte Gainsbourg, etc etc.

I did like your link to Place des Vosges, Quoins and Dormers are my type of architecture. Lovely stuff.

A 2017 cover with 47 year old stamps !

Speaking of French film, Agnes Varda, one of the leading directors of the nouvelle vague, has died

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...rda-obituary

She appeared on a stamp from Togo

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Togo-201...272218117099

I trust France will issue something in due course. I had the privilege of seeing and hearing her talk about her films at the French Institute in London last September - entertaining and charming.