1929 FRANCE (Grand Est) - Lac de Retournemer

 

Located near the better known Lac de Longemer, on the river Vologne (a tributary of the Moselle River), which flows through the both lakes, in the heart of the Vosges Mountains, Lac de Retournemer was created by a glacier. Even if has only 320m wide, 250m long and a deep of 11.5m, it is renowned for its beauty. Its name refers to "retourner" (return), because in former times the waggoners had sometimes to return, because they could not crest the Col de la Schlucht (1,139m), a mountain pass in the Vosges. It is a privately owned lake, so swimming or bathing is not allowed.

About the stamps

The first stamp is part of the large series Liberté de Gandon d'après Delacroix, issued from 4 January 1982 to 21 September 1990. It was replaced in 1989 by Marianne du Bicentenaire. This Marianne, allegory of the French Republic, is taken from a painting by Eugene Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le peuple (Liberty Leading the People), which illustrated also the French banknotes of a hundred francs. Designed and engraved by Pierre Gandon and printed in intaglio, this stamp marked "French Republic" for the name of the country, replacing the word "France" used between 1975 and1981.
1983.06.01 bleu (2.80 FRF) - It's on the postcard 1929
1984.07.01 bleu (3.00 FRF) - It's on the postcard 2835
1986.09.13 green (1.90 FRF) - It's on the postcard 3368
1987.11.16 pink (3.70 FRF) - It's on the postcard 3340

The second stamp was issued on September 11, 1993, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Corsica, the first French department released, on September 8, 1943.  The stamp has an error: the contours of the pond of Biguglia is fanciful, being represented as an open bay of the sea.

References
Lake Longemer - fhsv.jimdo.com

Sender: Bob Otto
Sent from ??? (??? / France), on 23.09.2015
Photo: Joel Couchouron