French Postage Stamps are a view of the history of the country, they also tell you what is going on currently as various events are commemorated. In 2024 obviously there are several sets of Olympic and Para-olympic stamps. There are also two collector sets for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the 150 years of Impressionism. But did you know that 2024 is also the 500th anniversary of the European discovery of New York?
And to commemorate the baguette, listed on the intangible heritage of humanity of UNESCO since 2022, a Scratch ‘n sniff stamp was released. A great way to highlight artisanal know-how and the traditional French baguette.
On May 16th, the day of Saint-Honoré, patron saint of bakers, the national printing works in Boulazac, near Périgueux, began printing 594,000 copies of a stamp decorated with the French baguette swirled in a bleu blanc rouge ribbon.
Created by La Poste in collaboration with the National Confederation of French Bakery-Pâtisserie, this stamp was designed by the illustrator artist Stéphane Humbert-Basset. Because the baguette is a sensory experience and one of the most important characteristics of the baguette is the odor the designers decided to add the odor to the stamp. The Scratch ‘n sniff technology of our youth is back with the heavenly fresh-baked baguette smell. The technical aspect of the scent is from a transparent varnish containing the encapsulated odor is deposited on the stamp. For La Poste Scratch’n sniff is old hat too as it had already released stamps with original scents, such as grass, chocolate and coffee.
The baguette stamp (and New York stamp) is an international letter stamp, so you can send the lovely scent to your friends far away. Just point out that they should « scratch ‘n sniff ». Get your baguette stamps quickly as they are selling “comme des petits pains”!
In 1523, French king Francis I was convinced by the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazano to assemble a fleet to discover maritime access to Cathay (access overlooking the Pacific), via the west. Verrazano set sail from Dieppe. In March 1524, he explored the coast of North Carolina, then continued north. On April 17, he anchored near New York Bay. He was the first European explorer to discover the site of the future city of New York which he named New Angoulême in honor of François I, former Duke of Angoulême who had financed his trip.
For French language fans… La Poste came out (2013) with a set of 12 stamps illustrating French idiomatic expressions jand proverbs just like our Speak Easy. The theme is animals…
Liste des timbres – Match them with the English equivalents below
1. Qui vole un oeuf vole un boeuf
2. Etre serrés comme des sardines
3. Le chat parti les souris dansent
4. Sauter du coq à l’âne
5. Etre heureux comme un poisson dans l’eau
6. Se regarder en chiens de faience
7. Pleurer des larmes de crocodile*
8. Ménager la chèvre et le chou
9. Quand les poules auront des dents
10. Cela ne se trouve pas sous les sabots d’un cheval
11. Avaler des couleuvres**
12. Pratiquer la politique de l’autruche
A. Like a fish in water
B. He that will steal an egg will steal an ox
C. To glare at one another
D. To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
E. When pigs fly
F. To fall for something hook, line and sinker
G. When the cat’s away the mice will play
H. That’s as rare as hen’s teeth
I. To bury your head in the sand
J. To cry crocodile tears
K. To skip from one topic to another
L. Packed together like sardines
1B; 2L; 3G; 4K; 5A; 6C; 7J; 8D; 9E; 10H; 11F; 12I
*Larmes feintes destinées à émouvoir et tromper l’entourage. Merci www.expressio.fr
** couleuvres = grass snake
The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FUSAC magazine for more than 25 years. Readers liked them so much they would cut them out and save the whole collection. It is widely used by teachers of English and French as well. Because they were so popular we combined them into a lively book illustrated with watercolors. This Speak Easy Puzzle is one of 150 puzzles in a 3 volume collection which is available exclusively at Bill & Rosa’s Book Room or by email : BRBookRoom@gmail.com
There are more sample Speak Easy Puzzles on our website.