Maldives

greetings from the rainy rainy, freezing cold Skopje...im still waiting for some decent snow...it's been snowing heavily in many parts in Europe already...I like those snowy days when you dont need to go anywhere particular so you dont have to worry about how you are dressed and whether you'll look like a mess in the end...but when you can just go outside and walk and walk and walk in the snow...just beautiful....
but while waiting for the snow, one can be as usual dreaming of something more exotic, and definitely warmer than these zero degrees...and one such place is this absolutely fantastic view of one of the Maldives' atolls...dont know which one in particular, but it doesnt really matter...i just love love love those shades of blue!

and this fantastic surprise came from dear Sissel, who is/was yet on another interesting trip to a number of really fantastic places...I wish i could travel the world at least half from what she has travelled :) Youd be jealous if you knew all the amazing spots she has seen in this world :)))
And im really happy she thinks of me during her travels and drops me cards...yes, cardS - plural! she makes sure me and my mailbox get a nice dosage too :)
and what makes this card even much more special  is that it is actually my first written and stamped card from the Maldives!! Yay!! (actually, I have 3 in total for now, all from dear Sissel :P)
I actually had a hard time deciding which one to choose for my post...most probably coz of the stamp...not that the stamps of the other two are anything less beautiful...but this one simply stands out...

actually, it is not even a stamp, but an entire souvenir sheet issued in 2001 in set of two different s/s, portraying shipwrecks and ship mysteries of the world, with this one showing L’Astrolabe and La Boussole.

They bear an interesting story....L’Astrolabe was one of two ships chosen for Jean-François de Galoup, Comte de La Pérouse’s expedition to the Pacific. After seeing Captain James Cook’s success with a former collier, the French decided a large supply ship would better afford the room needed to carry five years worth of supplies as well as house scientific experiments. In addition to supplies, L’Astrolabe was fitted with guns. The expedition set sail from Brest, France, on August 1, 1785. Paul-Antoine-Marie Fleuriot de Langle was in command.
La Boussole, was originally used as a supply ship for the fishing industry, but was converted to be the flag ship of the expedition. The ships cruised the Pacific from the modern-day Alaskan coast to Russia and Japan.
In December 1787, the expedition landed in the Samoan Islands. When a party went ashore, they were attacked and de Langle was among those killed. La Pérouse then appointed Robert Sutton de Clonard to command the L’Astrolabe as they sailed to their last known stop of Botany Bay. They were never heard from again. Historians believe that the L’Astrolabe and *La Boussole *wrecked on a coral reef off the island of Vanikoro.

it is even complementing the image of the postcard...i mean, in such vast waters, there must be some ship mysteries! :)

thank you sooooo much dear Sissel! I love, both the card and the stamp! Im sure you've enjoyed it here!