This original circa 1930 French travel poster was designed by Lucien Baubaut to promote Normandy through the Réseau des Chemins de Fer de l’État. Its slogan, L’Été… L’État, creates a playful association between the French word for summer and the name of the state railway network.
The composition presents an idyllic Norman landscape with grazing cattle, a stream and a traditional half-timbered cottage beneath pale chalk cliffs. A rustic cider jug in the foreground adds a distinctive regional detail, while the distant water suggests Normandy’s celebrated coastline.
Baubaut employs a fresh palette of blue, green, orange and warm brown, using broad areas of simplified colour to create a peaceful and inviting scene. Printed by Lucien Serre & Cie in Paris, this poster printed in lithograph combines decorative clarity with the modern visual language of interwar tourism advertising.
The emblem of the Réseau des Chemins de Fer de l’État identifies it as the “network of 600 beaches”, emphasising the company’s extensive services to western France and its seaside destinations. Lucien Baubaut’s carefully balanced design presents Normandy as a region of pastoral tranquillity, traditional architecture and summer recreation.
A charming and highly decorative example of French railway advertising, this original poster would make an excellent addition to a collection devoted to Normandy, rural life, railway history or European travel.
Original Poster
Railway - Tourism - Normandy - France
State Railways, the 600 Beaches Network
Printed by Lucien Serre & Co. in Paris
Good condition, minor restorations
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