Territoire des Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF)

Postcard

The Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (T.A.A.F.) is an overseas territory of France.

It consists of Kerguelen (a group of volcanic islands), St. Paul and Amsterdam islands (located north of Kerguelen), Crozet Islands (located south of Madagascar), Adélie Land (the French claim on the Antarctica continent) and the Scattered Islands (located around the coast of Madagascar). 

The Marion Dufresne is a multipurpose vessel. It serves as a supply and logistic vessel for the French sub-Antarctic islands and as an oceanographic research platform on the world’s oceans.

Stamp

Issued in 2011: The 90th anniversary of the Birth of Pierre Bignon, 1921-1990.

The stamp cancellation reads ‘Alfred Faure Crozet’. The Crozet Islands are uninhabited, except for the research station Alfred Faure.

  French Austral Lands and Seas is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It took almost 7 months for this card to reach its destination. Well Crozet Island is a looong way but…there’s another reason. Our local mailman decided not to deliver all of the mail, but save some in his garage. He was caught recently and some days ago I received 60 postcards in my mailbox. My missing postcards since 2011!