La Marche is a French historical and cultural region, corresponding to a former province whose capital was Gueret (approximately the modern département of Creuse). The name of Marche means an intermediate zone between two territories, in this case the English Aquitaine under the Plantagenets and the French Berry, but also between Limousin and Auvergne. It first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals, who took the title of count. In 1527 it became part of the domains of the French crown.
La Marche is also an intermediate linguistic zone. In North of the province the people traditionally speak marchoise, varieties of the Occitan language (of the Lemosin and Auvernhat dialects) with transition features toward French; nevertheless Occitan features remain dominant. Actually marchoise is spoken in a crescent-shaped linguistic zone (named even The Crescent), located between the valleys of Tardoire and Charente in West, and Mountains of Madeleine in East, with a width between 10 and 45 km. The small straw hat with velvet ribbons is typical for the women of this province, although similar to those found in parts of Auvergne.
About the stamps
The stamps are part of the series Gordon Bennett Cup, about which I wrote here.
Reference
La Marche (Province) (french) - Wikipedia
Croissant (linguistique) (french) - Wikipedia
Sender: Boniface
Sent from ??? (??? / France), on 16.06.2016
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