vulture

 

French Somaliland existed from 1896 to 1967 when it became the French Territory of Afars and Isas.  In 1977, after independence it became known asthe Republic of Djibouti

a Vautour fauve is a Griffon vulture in English and can have a wingspan of 2.8 metres (or over 9'!). It is apparently Europe's most social - and populous - vulture.  Most of the ones in western Europe can be found in the Iberian Peninsula, while the ones in the Horn of Africa (where Djibouti lies) are migratory.

stamp from 1962, designed and engraved by Jacques Combet

horses

 

The horses on Sable Island are wild and protected from humans. It is illegal to touch, feed or treat them.  They have suvrived on the island since the 1700s and have stocky bodies with thick woolly, shaggy coats.

illustrated and engraved by Jorge Peral (2005)

guides

 well behaved

I don't know my dog breeds, but I think this is some kind of retriever?  maybe golden? or a lab?

not so well behaved

from 1952, the ubiquitous Canada Goose

louis

Celebrating French history.  Designed by Albert Decarie

The 'Sun King' with the  Palace of Versailles in the background, into which he moved the court and government in 1682 making it the de facto capital of France.  He reigned for an astounding 72 years and 110 days.  born 1638, died 1715 

An older Louis - Louis Hébert, born 1575 in Paris, died 1627 in Quebec City - was the first French apothecary in the New World.  The stamp, designed by Clermont Malenfant, shows Louis surrounded by objects of his trade, including a mortar and pestle as well as a sprig of balsam fir and silverweed, both useful as herbal medicines.

justice

The French Palais de Justice is a much grander name than the English utilitarian sounding Courthouse

unfortunately, the Monaco Palais de Justice is not open to the public, unlike this 1921 court house in Yorkton

 

summer fun

 I am more of  a hibernator in summer than winter.  heat (and humidity) and I are not best buds.

Maybe a road trip would be in order (is that van air conditioned?) 

This series is from prolific illustrator and designer Gavin Ryan.

I'm not sure this poor soul in Blackpool is having fun at the seaside.  I did not find these saucy postcards funny when I first came across them.  Apparently they were created as a reaction to prudish Victorians (I may have have been a prude.  Or just 14). They seem even more inappropriate now. The people were always fat.  I'm not sure why I even have this one - it may have been part of a 'lot'.  

One thing that will get me moving in summer is checking out flowers.  This is the Victorian era Halifax Public Gardens,  located at the appropriately named Spring Garden Road and Summer Street.  There are free historical tours several times a day throughout summer.

How about a bit of canoeing and fishing.  Although you can fish all year round, I always think of it as a summer thing (I don't fish, except when I was younger and at a cottage, or camping) Maybe these guys are looking for bass, pike, musky or carp.

Or a round or two of golf. This is Royal Troon Scotland which last held The Open in 2016.  This year, it will be at Portrush in Northern Ireland (July 13 - 20)

Or, a spot of tennis. Though this is hardly a casual match.  This year being held from June 30 to July 13, (ending just in time for golf)

activities

There are plenty of stamps featuring men but I wanted to find some who were doing things, rather than sitting in a portrait, or posing.  In this case, we have some anonymous men racing, plowing, and planting.

pillar boxes

Although I don't have the actual stamps, I do have this set of 2002 PHQ cards - which I think I prefer

and, I was pleased to discover, after getting them, that the engraver was Czeslaw Slania (1921-2005)

Note: the colour changed from green to red in 1874 and the blue box was for airmail.

 

maybe Joy can enlighten us if she has seen any new pillar boxes with the CRIII cypher? 

 

salut

back to France

for the Paralympics

and, just in time, I received the latest Marianne (2023) 

This is Marianne of the future designed by Olivier Balez and engraved by Pierre Bara

marianne

Let's start off our world tour of Olympic participating countries with the host: France

the 2018 version of Marianne designed by 'YZ', a French graphist (or graphic designer) living in Abidjan, and engraved by Elsa Catelin

 

 

Olivier Ciappa's 2013 version of Marianne and youth

Marianne and stars designed & engraved by Yves Beaujard released in 2008

This 2003 version was designed by Eve Luquet and engraved by Claude Jumelet

 

 

New versions of these stamps are released every five years by the president.  I have yet to receive any 2023 ones

In case you've lost count, France is hosting the Olympics for the sixth time this summer.

northern hemisphere for Sunday Stamps

soaring

Soaring high to see

 

the spires of Brno

 

 

 

 

and the wildlife of the forest

 

 

two monochrome stamps, coincidentally in the same colour, for Sunday Stamps

dove

 For the millennium, this stamp of a peace dove is steel engraved and designed by Jorge Peral 

whose other Canadian stamps can be seen here.

 

for Sunday Stamps - monochrome

bear lodge

Devils Tower, a sacred site to Native Americans, was the first national monument established by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. This name comes from a misinterpretation and requests to have it renamed as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark have been met with opposition from local senators. Even having it as an additional name seemed to be unsuitable and confusing despite the name asked for being in English and not, say, the Crow language which would make it "Daxpitchcheeaasaao".

The summit is 5,112' (1,559m) above sea level.

borders

A 1966 view of Mount Mikeno in the Volcanoes National Park which is known as Virunga National Park across the border in the DRC. (Virunga means volcano in Kinwyarwanda language of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo). When the park was created in the 1920s, both countries were under control of Belgium. The green unfortunately does not show off the brilliant yellow-crested helmetshrike with his black body and high yellow crest. Although this stamp is from Rwanda, this bird is endemic to the DRC. And it is now on the vulnerable list.

designer Jean Van Noten
engraved by Jean de Vos

For Sunday Stamps - the colour green

harvest

Sri Lanka is the fourth largest producer of tea (according to wikipedia) and here we have a woman 'plucking tea' in 1938  (l) and 1958 (r).  Most of the tea pickers are women and girls and it is one of the few countries where each tea leaf is harvested by hand.

for Sunday Stamps - harvest

Sunday Stamps - water

Here we have a 1951, green tinted view of Lake Towada as part of Japan's  National Parks series. It is a crater lake and the largest on Honshu Island. The lake and the surrounding forest became a National Park in 1936 and this stamp commemorates its 15th anniversary. An Imperial Japanese Army Air Force plane which crashed in 1943 was found at the bottom of the crater in 2010 and recovered in 2012.

for Sunday Stamps - water

Sunday Stamps - T

1948, Trinidad and Tobago, Silver Wedding

One may wonder what is going through the minds of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI as they posed for this anniversary picture. They seem to have the same expression; perhaps sending telepathic messages to each other...

I cannot find if they ever actually visited Trinidad, though Prince Edward did visit in 1920 as did his father, George V, as a child in 1880. The current Queen Elizabeth visited for the first time in 1966.

for the letter T - Trinidad and Tobago, three cents

Sunday Stamps - M

1975, Monaco, 125th anniversary of the Grammont Law
engraver - Pierre Gandon

In 1850, Jacques Delmas de Grammont, had a law passed in the National Legislative Assembly in France that would fine or imprison anyone caught abusing domestic animals. This became known as the Grammont Law.

for the letter M - Monaco

Sunday Stamps - G

1948, Gambia

Celebrating the Royal Silver Wedding of George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

The Republic of The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa and is surrounded almost entirely by Senegal with a coastline in the Atlantic. It is a long, narrow country that borders the Gambia River. It lies between latitudes 13° and 14°N and longitudes 13° and 17°W. It's only one of two countries whose short form of its name begins with 'The'.

for the letter G - Gambia, George VI

Sunday Stamps - 'Z'

1967, France, Famous People
Emile Zola
engraved by Claude Durrens

Emile Zola was a French novelist, critic and political activist. In 1898 he wrote a  letter to a newspaper under the headline 'J'Accuse' where he accused the French Army of covering up its mistaken conviction of Alfred Dreyfus and acquitting Ferdinand Esterhazy on the orders of the Ministry of War. He gained a few enemies in the sharply divided country over the Dreyfus Affair and on his death by carbon monoxide poisoning was considered suspicious. (read about it here)

for the letter Z - Zola