Peugeot PHL or PRH 1946ish. Translation below.
Let's go into details for the beauty of the gesture as well as for the dating...
first remark, the front headlight is obviously totally anachronistic...(even if seen from afar it has a look "in the style of").
Let's move on to the equipment:
BEBO brakes (levers and calipers), on cleats at the front and at the rear
RIGIDA DECO rims with flat sides
JCF hubs (at least on one wheel, the other one should be scratched, when did this brand start producing hubs? a mystery to me...)
A.V.A stem (and associated "light" handlebars probably matched)
Soubitez Dynamo
Soubitez rear light (identical to the Solex 45).
An adaptable reflector, obviously mounted in place of another accessory, with a round mark on the rear mudguard. (Could the bike be older, and have previously carried one of those famous white signs for riding under the German occupation?)
Saddle seems to be a Peugeot "comfort" model (the construction is like a motorbike saddle on springs, horsehair and hessian), covered with leather or moleskin, I haven't cleaned it up enough to know, no apparent maker's marks.
Rear derailleur only, Simplex 4 Speed (it's engraved on it, and the mention of narrow chain 2.38mm), like "world champion 46", which was quite "loose", but a few moments spent on it and it was put back in a more correct position (no pictures yet). Curiously, it seems that the sprocket set has 5 sprockets...(to be confirmed) the smallest one seems to me perfectly unusable with the chain in this frame, and a 4 speed derailleur.....perhaps a makeshift "repair", as the teeth seem to me still "in shape" for a bike that could have been ridden a lot (pure supposition).
three-spoke pedal assembly (not identified at the moment)
Lyotard pedals, obviously more recent than the bike, no harm done if the bike has been ridden a lot.
Identical front and rear tyres DUNLOP CORD 1/2 BALLON 650B Montluçon France....ça on the other hand, it could mean that it has not been ridden that much to have kept such old tyres?
Front and rear mudguards not yet identified, but they look like MAVIC's like INAL or STUDAL but with a stamped pattern on the front and rear....but not ribbed like the ones described in the peugeot catalogues (which are at best from 1947 and after)...I'll have to look for a possible trace of paint decorating these mudguards, but at first sight there's nothing.
Blue Peugeot Paris frame plate (often called "1946 model").
The colour of the bike's decoration with double stripes (a little touch of luxury, and it is this decoration that made me want to get this bike).
decalcomania mentioning the use of the LIGHT HELIUM TUBE (we know that it will soon be dethroned and that helium will no longer be the lightest, or even considered as sub-quality a few decades later)...
But a curiosity added to these HELIUM tubes, the frame connectors are not the ones usually associated with these famous tubes, with the staircase cut also called "Aztec", here the connectors have rounded cuttings...would it be thus among the first use of "HELIUM" at Peugeot?
Amongst the curiosities is the position of the derailleur lever (Simplex also, of course), usually the catalogues place it on the top tube. But here the thread design doesn't leave much space for the lever area (unlike others I've seen), and I can't imagine where the cable could go to the derailleur, as my bike has hooks that are already used for the brake cable. But besides, the current cable system is made of old "chatterton" (canvas) which doesn't seem to be more "professional". And the lever clamp seems to encroach on the area reserved for the "Peugeot" monogram (unfortunately quite faded).
Luggage rack with "rectangle" toolbox with a typical pre-1950 swinging door (again, this looks like equipment produced by MAVIC, at least for the luggage rack, which can be found on other brands).
Peugeot chain guard in accordance with the catalogues of the period.
Neimann anti-theft device (no anti-theft device)
A nice "wire" bottle cage from Simplex "Tour de France type" (it goes well with the derailleur)...
A "modern" handlebar compared to the rest of the bike, a plastic one like "bennoto", carefully installed by a previous owner. I might put some tressorex shellac on it one day...maybe...
Gilbert Blassieaux "GB" handlebar caps (a choisy-au-bac(60) firm) probably as recent as the handlebar.... so probably linked to a certain longevity in activity of this bike.
Also note the black paint touch up over the blue on a frame connection (a "customisation?").
Also note the "ribbed" finish of the willow leaf piece closing the top of the frame stays under the seat.
I have not yet identified the headset, crankset and various other elements,
And finally what makes me assume that the sum of all these elements gives a cycle of 1946: its serial number: 158778 C
I forgot...the frame size seems to be 57.
I think 1946, because from '47 onwards the catalogues show illustrations with a Simplex derailleur of the Rigidex type
...unless the current derailleur was added to a bike that was originally without one (by changing the wheel as well), and in that case, this bike would be a "PU" accessorized more sporty/random than when it came out of the chain, but what about a little luxurious decoration for a "utility", and "light" frame tubes...
Indeed an "original" PHL seems to have a lever mount brazed to the frame and not a collar mount.