France

Here we have a nice cover from France with a S/S entitled Portraits de Regions, a stamp commemorating La Castafiore, and another stamp celebrating 60 years of the Medical Research Foundation.

The S/S was issued La Poste in September 2004 and is part of a larger S/S shown below. The larger S/S is Number 4 in a series of emissions entitled "La France à Voir," which I guess roughly translates to "Scenic France" or "Sights of France." The part of the S/S on the cover shows Le Chateau de Chambord, Les Calanaques de Chassis, and Le Phare de Cap-Ferret.

Le Chateau de Chambord in Loire Valley is one of the most recognizable chateux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures. The Calanques de Chassis is in Cassis and it streches along the coast of the Mediterranean sea for miles. There are three major calanques, Marseille, Cassis and Morgiou. A Calanque is a place in the sea where the water has carved out little beaches and high cliffs. I must say that the place looks very beautiful, don't you agree? The Phare de Cap-Ferret, or the Cap-Ferret Lighthouse, is located on the northern side of the bottleneck which links the Bassin d'Arcachon to the Atlantic Ocean. It takes 258 steps to get to the top.

The La Castafiore stamp is also part of an S/S that was issued on 14 May 2007. It depicts Bianca Castafiore, the Milanese Nightingale, an opera diva who was a recurring character in The Adventures of Tintin, a series of comic books created by Belgian artist Hergé.



The 60 years of the Medical Research Foundation stamps was issued on 22 October 2007. The Medical Research Foundation was the first private foundation that carried out medical research in France. Although it is not very known the general public, it plays a part in the fight against the illnesses in the present and future.

The stamps were all tied on 25 Jan 2008 with a beautiful postmark that reads "Philatelie / 42 St. Etienne Grand Poste."