Lake Serre-Ponçon is second largest artificial lake in Europe. It gathers the waters of the Durance and the Ubaye rivers, flowing down through the Hautes-Alpes and the Alpes du Sud to the Rhône River. The waters are dammed by the Barrage de Serre-Ponçon, a 123m high earth core dam, the biggest in Europe, erected between 1955 and 1961. It was created to control water flow after disastrous floods caused severe damage and loss of life in 1843 and 1856.
During construction of the lake, approximately 3 million m3 of material was moved, and some villages was flooded in the process. The little Chapelle Saint-Michel, that once stood on the top of a hill, is now a picturesque little island in the lake. In the village resort of Savines-le-Lac, the tourists can relax on the beach and enjoy a host of leisure pursuits like swimming, sailing and fishing, as well as hiking, mountain-biking, horse-riding and climbing.
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series European capitals - Brussels, designed by Marc Taraskoff, and issued on July 2, 2007. The series contains four stamps, all with the same face values (0,54 EUR):
• King's House
• City hotel
• Manneken-pis - It's on the postcard
• Atomium
The second stamp is part of the series Overseas protected species, issued on April 28, 2007.
• Caribbean Iguana (0,54 EUR) - It's on the postcard
• Racoon (0,54 EUR)
• Jaguar (0,60 EUR)
• Barau's Petrel (0,86 EUR)
ReferencesLac de Serre-Ponçon - Wikipedia
Lake Serre-Ponçon - Provence & beyond
Sender: Jyvy
Sent from Corenc (Rhône-Alpes / France), on 09.10.2015
I had never heard of this lake before! What a beautiful postcard!
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