More T.A.A.F. , A Million Cards? and Lucerne

Here I am again, just a little later than promised. It seems nothing is for certain when blogging. I have definitely been blessed with T.A.A.F. cards this past week. The cards themselves are certainly beautiful and dramatic , but in addition I know that the stamps on them will be superb. I mentioned a short while ago that I enjoyed the stamps of St. Pierre & Miquelon and French Polynesia , well, now I will add French Southern and Antarctic Lands stamps to that short list. They are a very good country to collect.

The first 3 cards for today are from T.A.A.F. I will show the cards separately , but will bunch the stamps from all three together. Card # 1 is another view of The Marion Dufresne. This is the ship that brings supplies and rotating personnel to the islands that make up the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Card # 2 shows the crater on Saint Paul Island. The island is the top of an inactive volcano. Part of the rim collapsed in 1778, forming the water filled crater as shown on the card. Saint Paul Island has an area of 6 square kilometres. It is about 86 km southwest of Amsterdam Island. card 1 and 2 were postmarked at the Martin de Vivies base on Amsterdam Island.

Card # 3 shows Amsterdam Island itself. It measures 55 square kilometres. The population of the island is about 30 and they all live at the Martin de Vivies Base. One of the most interesting things I found about Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island is that they are 2 of only 3 land antipodes of the Continental United States. The other is Kerguelen Island. An antipode of any place on Earth is the point on the earth's surface which is diametrically opposite it. Two points that are antipodal to one another are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth. Amsterdam Island is antipodal to an area 32 km southwest of Lamar, Colorado, USA. Saint Paul Island is antipodal to an area 16 km southwest of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, USA.

The stamps on these 3 cards are great stamps. The bottom stamp is from 2008 and features Penguins. The middle stamps include 4 of a 5 set of flags issued in 2008 and a single stamp from 2008 featuring The island and crater of St. Paul island. The top stamps include the same island crater stamp along with a superb Petrel stamp from a 2009 souvenir sheet of 5 , all showing various petrels. It is a beautiful souvenir sheet and one that deserves to be in my collection. One more thing about the stamps on these cards, the very clear and clean postmarks. Many countries ( including my own Canada) and their postal employees could certainly learn a lesson on cancellation from these cards. As far as I know, all 3 cards are from Johan, who I mentioned in a previous update.

The next card comes from Westminster, Colorado, USA. It is located about 20 minuets drive from either Denver or Boulder. This is a self made card and is of a scene near the sender's home. I don't have a name as to who sent the card , but the person operates a blog called- sendmeamillionpostcards.com . Quite a large undertaking , indeed. I thought it difficult trying for one from every country or stamp issuing entity. But, good luck to him or her. I will get a card in the mail very soon to reduce the million by one more. If all you postcard collectors and bloggers out there , checks out the website, send a card along and help reduce that million.
The two stamps, on the right and in the middle are new to my collection. Dennis the Menace and Tom Mix were both issued in 2010.

The last card comes from Lucerne , Switzerland. This city, located in north central Switzerland, was voted the 5th most popular tourism destination in 2010 by Tripadvisor.
The scene in the upper right of the card is a view of Lucerne from the Kapellbrucke, which is one of the city's famous landmarks, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century. Bruno , who must have visited this blog, sent the card and can expect a nice cover in return. Bruno used 3 stamps showing optical art, issued in 2010.

That just about concludes this update, save for my September postcard report. We can't forget that now , can we ? I'm sure you all were wondering about it. Anyway, September brought a total of just 27 cards, of which 15 were received through Postcrossing. I sent out 26 cards and 21 of them went to Postcrossers. Sadly, I did not receive any new countries in September.

That's it. Comments welcome. Don't be shy.