Vals - Switzerland

Not all my cards from Switzerland are sent by Óscar. Every now and then someone else sends me cards from there. This one was sent by Caroline. 

Vals is located in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

The Vals Valley owes its wilderness and diversity in a tiny area to the forces of water. In millions of years ice and rain shaped the deeply-cut mountain valley.

Quartiers Modernes Frugès - France

Quartiers Modernes Frugès, a housing development located in Pessac, France, is one of the 17 projects designed by the architect Le Corbusier, classified as UNESCO WHS last summer. I already have a card from the Capitole Complex in India, now I'm missing cards from any of his works in Switzerland, Belgium, Argentina, Germany and Japan. 

This card was sent by Marina in Italy and bought by her mother in France.

Ville de Pessac - Direction de la Communication 

Quartiers Modernes Frugès contained some 70 housing units, built as experimental housing for workers.

Le Corbusier took into account prevailing social and economic factors, and was determined to build the plan to provide people with low-cost, predetermined, homogeneous cubist structures.

The project originated in 1920 with 10 houses built at Lege, near Pessac, for the father of Henry Fruges. Following this initial phase, the project was extended to 200 houses. Only a quarter of this number were built by 1926. L-C painted panels of brown, blue, yellow and jade green in response to the clients request for 'decoration'.

The layout consists of a terrace of about 8 three storey houses with roof gardens. Behind them is a terrace of houses connected to each other with a concrete arch which provides a sheltered garden. In the middle of the development are the interlocking houses. - in: wikipedia

Hôtel des Invalides, Paris - France

I've been to many places in Europe, want to go to many places but Paris has never been and is not on the top of my long list of places to visit. I'll go one day, just don't know when. 

Susana was there in October 2011 to celebrate her birthday, très chic!! I don't know when Damien visited his capital city for the last time but he also wanted to send me a postcard of the Hôtel des Invalides.

 Editions A. Leconte

In 1670, no foundation existed to house wounded and homeless veterans who had fought for France. Louis XIV, who was anxious about what would happen to soldiers that had served during his numerous campaigns, decided to build the Hôtel Royal des Invalides. Constructed from 1671 to 1676 by Libéral Bruant, then by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte, it is one the most prestigious monuments in Paris. Today, under the Ministry of Defence but also occupied by numerous organizations that are part of other ministries, the Hôtel National des Invalides still retains its original function as a hospital and hospice for badly injured and disabled war veterans. 

Photo © Paris - Musée de l'Armée, Dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Emilie Cambier

As well as the Musée de l'Armée, it comprises the Musée des Plans-Reliefs and the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération as two churches: the Eglise du Dôme, which houses the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte designed by Visconti in 1843, and the Eglise Saint-Louis des Invalides. During the second half of the 20th century, the entire site of the Hôtel National des Invalides was opened up to the public after small buildings were knocked down and a ditch created around the site. In 1981, a huge restoration project was undertaken at the Hôtel National des Invalides under the instigation of an interdepartmental commission co-directed by the Ministries of Defence and Culture to restore this exceptional site to its former glory. - in: http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71310/Hotel-national-des-Invalides

Masca - Spain

A spanish card from Masca, on Tenerife island, send from France by Damien. 

Masca is a small mountain village on the island of Tenerife. The village is home to around 90 inhabitants. The village lies at an altitude of 650 m in the Macizo de Teno mountains, which extend up to the northwesternmost point of Tenerife.

Forests including cypresses and palm trees abound. The village lies at the head of the Masca Gorge. The trail from the village down the gorge to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean is a popular, though strenuous, hiking route, which takes about 3 hours each way. - in: wikipedia

Alcántara - Spain

A postcard from Spain sent by Paula showing San Benito Covent in Alcántara, a city in the province of Cáceres, very close to the portuguese border. 

© fotografia: Noel Vega

The construction of the convent began in 1505 and lasted for most of the 16th century. The Order of Alcántara main architect, Pedro de Ybarra, worked on the design.

In 1706, it was sacked during the War of Spanish Succession, and it was damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. In 1835, it was abandoned and began to fall into ruin. Later it was acquired by Hidroeléctrica Española, which restored it and occupied the structure until 1966. In 1985 it went to the Fundación San Benito de Alcántara. - in: wikipedia

Valença do Minho - Portugal

Valença do Minho is a historical village the North of Portugal, located right in the border with Spain, separated only by the Minho river, and surrounded by defensive walls in the top of a hill. 

The card was sent by Gracinha.

Guia Turístico do Norte

The Military Chapel of the Good Jesus is a religious temple of  baroque and rococo architecture.

Inside the chapel theres a small image of Our Lady of Carmo, patron of Infantry Regiment No. 21 stationed in Valença and which a soldier carried in a backpack whenever the regiment was in campaign.

Guimarães - Portugal

I've been to the beautiful historical city of Guimarães, in northern Portugal, twice and I  really want to go there again. It's already on my list of portuguese places I want to visit next year.

This card was sent by Vitória.

Fotografia: Oswaldo Santos

The historic town of Guimarães is associated with the emergence of the Portuguese national identity in the 12th century. An exceptionally well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town, its rich building typology exemplifies the specific development of Portuguese architecture from the 15th to 19th century through the consistent use of traditional building materials and techniques. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1031