Following on from the Monéteau's MARCOPHILEX (see article, published in VARIABLE 58), the next philatelic event scheduled in France was the Timbres Passion in Moulins, the biennial show promoting philately to the youth. This exhibition was to be held during the weekend of October 30th to November 1st. However, in view of the pandemic situation the organizers decided to cancel it just a week before it was due to start. For this event, Phil@poste had planned to release a stamp with a commemorative vignette without postal value, which was finally put up for sale, and a LISA issue, which was cancelled. The original design of the LISA issue (depicted below) is a watercolour by Geneviève Marot with the image of the Musée Anne de Beaujeu in Moulins, based on a photo by J. Mondière.

And just five days after Timbres Passion, the traditional Salon Philatélique d'Automne in Paris had been due to open its doors ... which of course never happened ...

With the cancellation of the Salon de Printemps in March and the Paris-Philex 2020 in June, the organizers had placed all their hopes on this one major event, which was to take place from November 4th to 8th, in Paris. Given the uncertainty on the covid 19 situation and the possible restrictions which might have been imposed by the authorities during the dates of the event, the CNEP also decided to cancel the Salon d'Automne; for the first time in its 73-year history.

The show was thus cancelled, but most of the planned philatelic issues went ahead, including the LISA designs. After a few days of confusion, Phil@poste announced that all issues and postmarks scheduled for the show could be obtained on the same dates, by appointment, from Le Carré d'Encre, the large shop dedicated to philately and the world of postal mail, in the center of Paris. However, a few days before the date, the French government decreed a new shutdown that forced the closure of the shop. Consequently, the issues were only obtainable via mail order from Phil@poste.

For the Salon d'Automne, Phil@poste had planned to release four LISA vignettes d'affranchissement, dedicated to Notre-Dame de Paris, the 50 years of the Imprimerie de La Poste, the 93rd Congress of the Féderation Française des Associations Philatéliques, and a special issue dedicated to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands; the last one was eventually cancelled.

The design 'Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris' is a fine work by the artist Eloïse Oddos, which complements a golden souvenir sheet of four stamps also dedicated to the cathedral. As can be seen on the initial design of the sheet (right image), both issues had been planned for the Paris-Philex 2020 show. The title 'PARIS PHILEX 2020' was finally replaced with 'NOTRE-DAME PARIS'. The special postmark, also by Eloïse Oddos, depicts one of the fantastic gargoyles from the cathedral.

The composition on the LISA issue features a longitudinal section of the sacristy of the cathedral, according to a project of the architect Viollet-le-Duc. On the left of the composition is the design of the rose window on the south facade and on the right, the detail of a medallion dedicated to music, located on the central pillar at the cathedral entrance.

With no philatelic event and with no postal kiosks, the LISA stamps were printed from the usual back office computer system fitted with a Brother thermal printer. Phil@poste produced 8,000 LISA packs with each design, made up of a set of four stamps with the basic values ​​and face value indicators for domestic and international mail (CC - Ecopli, DD - Lettre Verte, AA - Lettre Prioritaire and IP - Lettre Prioritaire Internationale).

Inland economic mail - CC    ECOPLI	Inland priority mail (D+2) - DD    LETTRE VERTE
Inland priority mail (D+1) AA    LETTRE PRIORITAIRE	International priority mail IP    LETTRE PRIORITAIRE INTERNATIONALE

The second LISA type stamp commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Imprimerie de La Poste. From 1895 to 1970, French stamps were printed at the Atelier des timbres-poste, a building located on boulevard Brune, south of Paris. On June 15th 1970, Yves Guéna, who had been Minister of Postes et Télécommunications between 1967 and 1969, and later Mayor of Périgueux, inaugurated the new imprimerie de timbres-poste et valeurs fiduciaires in Boulazac, in an industrial area near Périgueux, southwest of France.

The LISA design features the main facade of the building, with the commemorative text '50 ans gravés dans l'histoire' to the right of the stamp. The design is by Elsa Catelin.

As with the previous issues, the LISA stamp complements other special products produced by Phil@poste for this celebration; a book or folder with various special sheets showing the printing methods used by the company, and sheets of Lettre Verte stamps of the current definitive series, 'Marianne l'engagée', with the '50 ans Gravés dans l'histoire' commemorative overprint (below).

The design of the special postmark for the '50 ans Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste' issues is by the Huitième Jour agency.

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