About the philately of the French Southern Lands (Travelog: 15/16)

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT = "#ABCBBE"> <BR> <B>Philately</B> is an original, but significant resource for the territories (nearly 45 % of their own revenues). The Territories indeed emit their own stamps and those are very sought after by the collectors.<P> <B>The captain supervising the postal operations</B> Many collectors forward, via the Harbour office of La reunion, their letters on board the Marion Dufresne, with special stamps.<BR> Before each stopover, the conference room of the ship is transformed into a provisional post office : about 4000 letters will be posted on board!! Each one of them will receive a multitude of plugs (at least 10). Like the few other passengers, I had gone voluntary to participate to these gigantic pluggings sessions. </BODY>