Nelson Mandela, Easter Island, Capri, Corsica, The Smithsonian, The Paris Postal Museum and a Few Others

Well there you have it . The title of this post gives you some idea of what's to come. I hope time and space permits. Let's start with a card from Nelson Mandela's South Africa. It's a card from Robben Island Museum. Robben Island is an island in Table Bay , 6.9 km west of coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town. Robben Island is internationally known for the fact that Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Robben Island is both a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Bruce's card is a powerful card with an extract of Nelson Mandela's Rivonia Trial speech. 

Powerful words indeed. Words that not everyone might live up to. 

Bruce used a 2010 definitive from the Handicrafts set of 27. 

This second card arrived from a place I have wanted a card from for a long , long time. Maybe 8 or 9 years , I have been trying for a card from Easter Island and now it's finally happened. Easter Island or Isla de Pascua , take your pick. Easter Island is a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle . Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site . 

Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest inhabited land (around 50 residents) is Pitcairn Island  2,075 kilometres (1,289 mi) away. The name "Easter Island" was given by the island's first recorded European visitor, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who encountered it on Easter Sunday (5 April) 1722. The island's official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua,  also means "Easter Island". The island has a current population of 5034 inhabitants, of which 60% are continental Chile, and 40% ethnic Polynesian . A local is called a Rapanui. Almost all of them live in the only population center, Hanga Roa . 

Marcus's card shows a group of moai located on Anakena Beach. 

Marcus wrote on his card " Greetings from the Navel of the World ! " Besides its more well known name of Rapa Nui , Easter Island is also known as Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua, which means " the Navel of the World'. " Marcus's greeting might also refer to the fact that  at Te Pito Kura, on the northern coast , is  a perfectly round stone known as the " navel  of the world . " People say that placing your hands on the navel can rejuvenate your body energy. So who knows for sure ?  

Marcus used 2 stamps from 2014. They were issued in October and celebrate National Heros and Leaders, specifically Lautaro and Coupolican, both of the Mapuche people of Chile. 

A couple more things  before we leave Easter island. First a shout-out for Marcus. He co-operates with his beautiful wife Alicia, Easter Island Traveling   . You can catch him at easterislandtraveling.com 

Finally, even though Island may be off my postcard want list, it remains on my personal bucket list. I'll get there someday. I regret not making the effort when I was in Chile a few years ago. 

Beautiful Capri is up next. It's  an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The main town on the island , Capri shares the name. Capri is now a resort town and visited by tourists during the summer months. You might even bump into American singer Mariah Carey as she owns a villa on the island. If so, tell her I said Hi.

This is another card from my brother Dale. Looking at his card Capri appears to be a very beautiful spot, but quite busy. 

  

Dale , who has collected stamps for many years, didn't seem to have much success , stamp wise, at Naples. Nothing very exciting here. 

Now it's on to Corsica, where Dale found a better stamp. Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to France. Dale posted his card in Ajaccio, capital and largest settlement on the island.  Of course Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte. I guess it's not surprising that Dale's card is of Napoleon himself. Ajaccio has one other bit of fame - On 9 September 1943, the people of Ajaccio rose up against the Nazi occupiers and became the first French town to be liberated from the domination of the Germans. General de Gaulle went to Ajaccio on 8 October 1943 and said: "We owe it to the field of battle the lesson of the page of history that was written in French Corsica. Corsica to her fortune and honour is the first morsel of France to be liberated; which was done intentionally and willingly, in the light of its liberation, this demonstrates that these are the intentions and the will of the whole nation." 

Must be a day for quotes. 

Here's a better stamp than those from Naples. It's a 2015 stamp commemorating Leonard Limosin, French painter. This is a beautiful stamp and is from an even more beautiful souvenir sheet. 

Now , here's a new addition to my Airlines / Aviation Postcard Collection. F-BVFA , an Air France Concorde. On June 12, 2003 it touched down at Washington Dulles International Airport and was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It's now on display at the Steven F. Udvar -Hazy Center. Well worth a visit I would think. 

This is another card from Mike and Ashley of west Chester, Pennsylvania. They used a number of stamps including a 2014 Abe Lincoln stamp, a 2008 Tiffany Lamp stamp and a 2007 Silver Coffeepot stamp. Also included is the 2014 stamp honoring American novelist Ralph Ellison. He is best known for the landmark 1952 novel on the African-American experience Invisible Man. 

An old letter box  is what's on this next card. A 1900 Mougeotte type French letter box in fact. A great souvenir of the Paris Postal Museum.  The Musée postal de France (Postal Museum of France) opened on 4 June 1946 at the Choiseul-Praslin hôtel. Not large enough, the Choiseul-Praslin hôtel was replaced by a new building of 1,500 square meters. It was built between 1969 and 1972. The inauguration took place on 18 December 1973.

Here's the postage that Jean Pierre used on this one. Some sort of vending machine postage perhaps, if it's not a postage stamp, then I'm no expert on it at all. 

I know there are collectors of cards showing various royal families So here's one for them. The Royal Family of Luxembourg - Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa and the Royal Kids.

Jean-Marc, a Postcrosser sent this card. He used a 2014 Flower stamp. It is from a set of 3. 

Well, that's it for this time. Big thanks for cards go to Bruce, Marcus, Dale Mike & Ashley, Jean Pierre and Jean-Marc. Just a question for any readers out there. Who among you has received a card from Easter Island?  Just wondering how many are out there on the go.  Johan , I know you have one .