Taken by Gypsies in Paris, France!!

[Rowdy Yates]

Well, we just returned from 2 weeks in Europe, one week visiting the in-laws in Geneva, Switzerland followed by a week to ourselves in Paris, France. A great time was had by all, we had some wonderful adventures, way too much to go into detail here, except for one interesting encounter in Paris.....

We were walking near the Louvre Museum and, as usual, my wife Hope was admiring the sights, and I had my eyes peeled on the ground in hopes of eye-balling a treasure or two (no metal detecting in France, ). The entire grounds are mostly dirt, and I was seeing old bits of pottery and glass here and there..... I figured if I could eye-ball a seated quarter in Belmont, Ca., I might just find something cool in France.

Well, we must have looked a lot like the typical tourists, camcorder in hand, strolling around, admiring the old architecture, the Seine River, etc. Suddenly, about 6 feet away, a pretty young woman bent over and picked up a rather large, gold ring off the ground right in front of us! I couldn't believe it!! She seemed very excited about her find, and asked us if it could possibly be real gold. She handed it to me, and I quickly looked for any stamps on the inside. Sure enough, it was marked 18K, and 750. I handed it back to her, told her congratulations and that it was a lucky find. Her pretty face was beaming and she seemed pretty excited. I was thinking, "Damn, I just got swooped on a nice ring by a lucky tourist....... that ring should have been mine!!".

Suddenly, she began to frown, and in a pleasant French accent, told us she couldn't possibly keep it. It was a men's ring, it didn't fit her anyway, and so she insisted that we have it! She offered it to us, and we promptly declined, saying that she had found it and so she should keep it. But she smiled, and again said that we should have it. She handed it back to me and began to walk away.

We were a little stunned by our apparently amazing good fortune, and we turned to go, but suddenly she was back. She said she was thirsty, and asked for a few Euros to buy herself a Coke. I thought "what the heck", and gave her two or three Euros from my pocket, but then she frowned and asked for a few more. Reluctantly, I gave her a couple more Euros, and she thanked us and was on her way. It was then that I knew.......... I reached into my pocket, pulled out the ring, and tossed it up and down a few times in my hand. Yep, you guessed it......... brass!! This was proven by wearing the ring all day, and it turned my finger green!! And, of course, I kept my eye out for her but we never saw her again........

Anyway, it turned out to be an "interesting" souvenir, and I actually couldn't wait to by approached again by another Gypsy pulling the same scam....... I would have offered to trade my new ring for theirs and then offered to take a picture of them with their newly found treasure!!

Needless to say, I never did find anything good on our trip, so I consoled myself by buying an 1875 5-Franc coin at an antique shop towards the end of our trip.

Au Voir,

Rick

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Pretty funny story Oh well, only cost you a few Euro's for a good story to tell

Was the seated you found in Belmont, CA, found at the park that used to be a "beer gardens" back in the late 1800s? If so, you'd be doing good to find ANYTHING there now, as it's been pounded to a bloody froth by an army of md'rs. A lot of nice early S mint seateds used to come out of there.

As for France, if there is something that says "no md'ing", I would imagine that applies to public lands. There would be nothing to stop you from detecting a farmer's field, for example, with permission. Right?

 

[Rowdy Yates]

Hey there, Tom,

Was the seated you found in Belmont, CA, found at the park that used to be a "beer gardens" back in the late 1800s?

Naw, it wasn't at "Twin Pines", but just a few blocks away.... 925Bill can tell you about it.

There would be nothing to stop you from detecting a farmer's field, for example, with permission. Right?

Here's a link to what I researched before heading to France:

http://www.detecnicks.co.uk/france.htm

I didn't want to chance it..............

Rick

 

[Michaelangelo]

Couldn't help but laugh when I saw the title. My wife and I went to Paris for two weeks last year to visit our daughter who was there for a semester as part of her International Business degree.
On our first day we went to Notre Dame Cathedral and our daughter warned me not to talk to strangers. As soon as she and my wife turned around I was approached by a very beautiful young lady handing me a piece of paper. Before I could even read it my daughter saw what was happening, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me away. Turned out it was a Gypsy asking for money. Got a lecture from my daughter asking me what part of "don't talk to strangers" I didn't get. We all had a big laugh.
Next day we went to Sacrecuer and two guys approached with a length of string. My daughter had warned me of this scam also so I turned away before they could pull me in. They put the string on your finger and charge you to let go!! Saw a fellow get the string on his finger and when they wouldn't let go he pulled a pocket knife, cut the string, cussed them out and walked away.
On all our subsequent outings my daughter kept a very watchful eye on me to make sure I understood to keep away from approaching strangers!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Rick, a friend of mine's family has property in France. We are planning, someday, to go there metal detecting. So I researched ahead on this very subject. Yes you can find dire sounding things like in your link. But there are hobbyists, clubs, dealers, etc... there. Somehow, they're doing it. The guys I talked to there are ..... quite frankly ... way far back "in the woods" that no one really cares less.

I think that a lot of times when laws .... like the ones you cite .... get written in someone's answer, the answer they get is couched in terms of historical monuments, shipwreck salvor laws, exporting antiquities (on the scale of looting castles, etc...) etc... I suppose it would be no different than if you were to ask enough archies and bureaucrats here in the USA: "Can I metal detect?", you might find an answer that lists dire sounding ARPA things like that too. Couched in terms of Mel Fisher's legal hassles, protected fed. sites, lost & found laws, disturbing vegetation, utility underground rules, etc... But we all know, that you can detect in the USA, as long as you're using due discretion, avoiding historical monuments, etc....

 

[spartacus53]

That was a great story, and just goes to show how quickly one can get your confidence. She was one heck of a grifter! You need to see 3 great movies on scams "House of Cards", "Confidence" and "Grifters". Confidence is the newest of all the releases, but all 3 make an entertaining evening.

 

[RGINN]

Great story, and at least if you got took, you got took by a professional!