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Resultmg trom the merging of four airline com-panies - Air Union, Air Orient. Farman and C ! D N A - and purchase of the bankrupt Aeropostale Cam-pany‘s assets. Air France came mto being in August 1933 Right from the start, the new company was able to offer a route network covering 37.825 kms (23.640 miles). lin-king France to Tunis. Algiers and the main Eurooean cities and with another two exceptio-nally bold routes to Saigon via Beirut. Damascus, Calcutta. Rangoon. and Bangkok and to Santiago (Chile) via Casablanca. Dakar. Natal. Rio de Janeiro. Montevideo and Buenos Aires These routes were served by 259 aircraft (indu-ding 34 seaplanes) and Air France employed 2,250 people

In August 1939. with operatio-nal routes covering 46.000 kms (28.750 miles). the French comoany had the worlds lon-gest route network

Origmally a semi-public cor-ooratio^ Air France was natio-nalized on 25 June 1945 and took over Air Afrique's routes

The effort required for the company s development was enormous and the results obtai-ned were extraordinary In 1946. Air France started its transatlantic Paris - New-York service At this time. the company had 165 aircraft and a route network covering 142.675 kms (89.170 miles) Its reputation for timekeeping and for the comfort of its aircraft extended way beyond our borders

By January 1983. the route network had mcreased to 634.349 kms (396.468 miles). with services to 73 countries and 148 localities. In 1982. the company carned over 11.600.000 passengers

When he was still at college, Gustave Dore was already supplying drawings to Philipon, the humerous press baron It was in 1854 that the artist began the series of illustrations for literary works (over 120 in all) which madę his famę and fortunę In 1864. he embellis-hed Perraulfs « Contes » (Tales) with 41 wood engra-vings As withe all his literary works. its success was immense : 3 new French edi-tions in less than 15 years and 10 foreign-language adapta-tions throughout Europę For « Barbe-bleue » (Blue beard). he provided 4 illustrations In the reign of Napoleon III, Gustave Dore became the great Romantic illustrator of the I9th century He offered, with Victor Fugo, an outstan-ding vision of the Middle Ages mterwoven with gloomy ruins. dark forests and haggard crowds

Rene Cassin was born in Bayonne on 5 October 1887 A law gra-duate. arts graduate (history) and Doctor of Laws. he was a barrister ir. Paris when war broke out in 1914

After passing the « agrega* tion » examination in law in 1919, he taught at Aix-en-Provence. Lille and Paris He was one of the founders of the Federal Union of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims. before becoming its national Dresident and. finally. one o⁽ its honorary presidents

From 1924 to 1936. he was Vice-P'esident of the Higher Council *or War Orphans From 1924 to 1938 he was one of the French aeiegates :c the League of Nanons

His widely-recogmzed know-ledge of international law lec him to being appointed to the International Academy of Jus-tice in The Hague

In 1940. as legał adviser to General de Gaulle. he drafted the Churchill - de Gaulle agreements defmmg relations between the Free French and the United Kingdom

At the Liberation, appointed Vice-President of the Council of State, he was one of the founders of the National Administra-tion School

He was one of those who persuaded UNESCO to choose Paris for its headquarters Representing France at the United Nations. he was one ot the instigators and drafters of the Umversal Declaration of Humań Rights.

Rene Cassin, winner of the United Nations Humań Rights Prize. was awarded the Nobe Pnze for oeace in 1968

Noirlac abbey, situated 5 kms (3 miles) from Saint-Amand-Montrond, has been perfectly restored by the Cher« departement»folio-wing heavy damage earlier in its history : in 1562. Protestants demolished the church porch and set fire to part of the buil-dings ; in the 19th century, it was transformed into a pottery with the kilns instaUed in the knave of the church It later became an orphanage. before being turned mto a holiday centrę by the « Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois» In 1938. under the pressure of events. it became a reception centre where 600 Spanish refugees from the horrors of the Civil War were packed in precarious conditions During the Occupa-tion, it was used as a home for old people This sad tale came to an end in 1949 Today the wounds are healed The restored Noir ac aboey 'S ce^rta ~ > 're oest e/a^c erC s:e':

ar r'/- • Ar' rn    • r ^ r

TT    w

aam.rmg ;<e// una“ec:ec c. ~z~^mm9Zr beauty o“e^re: c. walis and cc:-: ::* =

It was ⁿ **:: •-g* •-* monks of Ga '.a-*    =

of Saint Bema': *cz?z •-* monastery whic^

Maison-Dieu its c^ese'^-* comes from the« ac-c * a~ oxbow lakę on the C^e' •

The church. startea - * *51 and completed oniy - r* middle of the 13th centw'. 5 impressively sober The ''c: s: austere cloister offers access to the 12th century cnacte' house. the parlour and :^re library On the first floor. wna: was the monks' dormitory was divided. in the 18th century into bedrooms whose superb wood panelling is well wo^rth seeing Other ooints o‘ mte-rest : the elegant vaulted Gothic cellar about 30 metres long and the vegetable garde^ overlookmc a magnificent¹ '•e c^; :^rees datmg back 251

Programme espagnol

La reunion de la Commis-sion paritaire Hispan-Ando-ranne pour le choix des tim-bres-poste du Bureau espagnol d Andorre pour Tannee 1983 vient seulement de se tenir au siege de la delega-tion permanente du Co-prince Episcopal a La Seu d Urgell Huit timbres seront śmis en 1983 suivant details inclus.

• Serie Europę C E PT Deux timbres:

-    16 Ptes Els Constructors dEsg/esias romaniques. des constructeurs deglises m-manesi

-    38 Ptes Imatge d u” mon •dessin d un nnouii^ Emis-Sion prevue pour fin mai ou debut juin