Besançon

My first official Postcrossing postcard from France, sent by Caroline.
Postcard ID: FR-209378
Received on: 29 May, 2012

Besançon, is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Located close to the border with Switzerland, it is the capital of the department of Doubs.

Once proclaimed first green city of France, it has been labeled a 'Town of Art and History' since 1986, and has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since 2008.

Besançon was the birthplace of Victor Hugo (1802–1885) writer and poet; Charles Fourier (1772–1837) inventor of socialist "phalansteries" (vast communal buildings surrounded by a highly cultivated agricultural area) and Auguste and Louis Lumière, (1862–1954) and (1864–1948) inventors of cinematography.

Monistrol-sur-Loire

This card is also from Interpals swap, it's from France, Monistrol-sur-Loire.
(Received in April, 2012)

Monistrol-sur-Loire is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.

It is the birthplace of former Roman Catholic archbishop Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel

The river Lignon du Velay flows into the Loire in the commune.

Alsace

Interpals swap from France, Alsace.

(Received in April, 2012)

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area (8,280 km²), and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km² (total population in 2006: 1,815,488; 1 January 2008 estimate: 1,836,000). Alsace is located on France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg. Because that city is the seat of dozens of international organizations and bodies, Alsace is politically one of the most important regions in the European Union.