World Cycling Championship 1972; France

Another wonderful FDC from France is here for you. The FDC commemorates the event of World Professional (Elite) Road Cycling Championship held in Gap - a commune in Southeastern France. GAP is also in the run for hosting 2018 Winter Olympics.

The stamp and the FDC were issued on 22 July 1972. The race consisted of 272.564 km and the best time was 7 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds. 89 cyclists started the race but only 42 of them reached the finish line. It was surely a tough one. Isn't it?

Marino Basso of Italy won the Gold medal while his fellow Italian Franco Bitossi got Silver. The third position went to Cyrille Guimard of the host country France.

My sincere Thanks to Jean-Michel for sending me this beautiful FDC from France. 

France: Munich Olympics 1972

Hello Pals!

I am here after a little absence. I have to show you a beautiful cover from my Olympics collection. It is an official FDC from France marking the event of Munich Olympics 1972 held of course in Munich (ThenWest Germany).

Unfortunately, the event saw a massacre on September 5 by some members belonging to the Black September Organization who broke into the Olympics village and took 11 Israeli athletes hostage in their apartment. They killed two of the athletes in their apartment after fighting back.

Afterwards during a botched German rescue attempt at the military airport of Furstenfeldbruck, where the captors with their hostages had been transferred by helicopter, ostensibly to board a plane bound for another country, all the surviving Israeli hostages were killed by a terrorist who threw a grenade into the helicopter carrying the hostages in one helicopter and another terrorist who sprayed the second helicopter with machine gun fire.

The games were suspended for some time but the Olympics committee decided that "the Games must go on". Competition resumed a day later.

The 1972 Munich Olympics were officially named as Games of the XXOlympiad. The official motto of the games was "The Happy Games". The emblem of the Games was a blue solar logo (the "Bright Sun"). The Olympic mascot, the dachsund "Waldi", was the first officially-named Olympic mascot.

France finished in 17th position in the final medal rankings, with two gold medals(Cycling, Men's 1000m Sprint and Sailing, Men's Finn) and 13 medals overall. Pakistan also competed in the event and managed to win a silver medal in Men's Field Hockey Team Competition.

I think that this particular cover was issued during the torch relay of Olympics. Can anyone put me wise on this issue? The FDC was sent to me by M. Chapeau Jean-Michel from France. Thanks Michel for such a nice cover.

France FDC, Isard 1971

Another cool FDC from France. The French stamp featured on the cover was issued on 24 April 1971. The stamp was issued as an effort for Nature Protection. The stamp and the FDC feature a beautiful animal called "Isard", somewhat like belonging to a deer family. Lovely addition in my collection.

France FDC: Launch Of Dial Satellite 1970

Here is a lovely FDC from France issued to commemorate the launch of Dial (Diamant Allemagne) satellite in 1970. The satellite was launched on 10th March 1970 and the stamp/FDC was issued on 28th March 1970. The Dial satellite was launched on a Diamant B launcher from Kourou into a 301 x 1631 km orbit inclined at 5.41 degrees. The German microsat was used to study the hydrogen geo-corona and the ionosphere. 

The data became difficult to intercept because of vibration damage caused during the launch. The satellite re-entered on 5th October 1978.

This beautiful FDC from France was sent to me by Jean-Michael from France.

France, Harry Potter Miniature Sheet

Here is a beautiful real posted cover from France with beautiful Harry Potter miniature sheet. Harry Potter is one of my favorite characters in books and movies. I recommend Harry Potter books to everyone who is reading this post. The movies are also good but not as classic as the books. The set of 7 Harry Potter Books is a must-read for every book lover. The miniature sheet was issued in 2007. "Fete Du Timbre 2007" printed on the miniature sheet means "Celebration of Stamps 2007" or "Stamp Celebration 2007". Thanks Marie for the quick translation.

The remaining stamps pasted on the cover were also issued in 2005. The French stamps of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10 Euro feature Marianne. Marianne is a symbol of Republican France. A marianne is a portrait of a proud and determined woman wearing a "Phrygian Cap". She symbolises the attachment of the common citizens of the revolution to the Republic - Marianne is liberty, egality and fraternity. The one shown on these stamps is Lamouche Marianne. Thanks to Michael Adam for this beautiful cover.

7th Men's World Handball Championship 1970, France

Today I will share this beautiful FDC from France. The FDC was issued on the eve of 7th Men's World Handball Championship which was held in 1970 in France. The FDC features a beautiful stamp depicting a handball player. Three other players are also shown on the FDC envelope. 

An interesting thing which I noticed is that on the envelope, the shirt number of the player(in blue shirt) making the shot is inverted "9"or may be double-inverted "6". What do you say?

The FDC was issued on 21 February 1970 and it has been cancelled in the beautiful city of France - Paris.

The Championship was won by Romania getting the Gold medal, where as East Germany and Yugoslavia got Silver and Bronzemedals respectively.

France; Harry Potter Stamps 2007

I absolutely love this cover from France. The cover features characters from my favorite book series – “Harry Potter”. I started reading the first part of the book on the recommendation of a younger sis and could not quit reading until I was finished with all the seven parts of the series.

I have also gone through the initial movies of the series. Although they are magnificently made but still they are NO match to the books. JK Rowling definitely Rules!!!

The above stamps were issued by France on 17 March 2007. "Fete Du Timbre" printed on the stamps means "Celebration of Stamps". The three stamps feature Harry Potter (Two stamps on Left), Hermione Granger (Top right) and Ronald Weasley (Bottom right).

The remaining stamps pasted on the cover were issued in 2005. The French stamps of 0.01 and 0.05 Euro feature Marianne. Marianne is a symbol of Republican France. A Marianne is a portrait of a proud and determined woman wearing a "Phrygian Cap". She symbolizes theattachment of the common citizens of the revolution to the Republic - Marianne is liberty, egality and fraternity. The one shown on these stamps is Lamouche Marianne. Thanks to Contesse Eric for this beautiful cover.

FIFA World Cup 2010 FDC With Stamp Sheet From France

What a beautiful First Day Cover it is? I fell in love with this cover at the first instance. The cover was sent to me by Eric Contesse from his blog at "Blog Timbre de ma Philatelie". Thanks a lot Eric! 

The FDC featuring the Souvenir sheet of four stamps from Franceissued on the event of FIFA World Cup 2010 being played in South Africa . The Stamp sheet and FDC were issued on 13 Jun 2010 and depicts football players, player & ball, Pretoria’s Parliament Building, View of Capetown & Flags of Countries playing the FIFA World Cup.