Trifter

Let’s not go into how beautiful La Belle Paris is. I am no expert and that is not essentially what this is about. So I wont waste your time and you can get on looking at the beautiful photographs I have uploaded with Triond because let’s be honest nothing can compare to an image – well yes maybe it can but again shall I waste your time ? No – I think not.

Paris is probably the most magnificent of capitals in Europe , its sweeping boulevards, its wonderful gardens museums and art galleries make it a destination for tourists from all around the world. I spoke to several differing nationals over a short period and saw countless others making their footsore ways around the city unfolding inadequately small scale maps and peering at them with a look of confusion and bewilderment. They seemed so taken up with the simple task of getting from The Louvre, where they had been jostled , chivvied like cattle and ignored by the harassed staff, to say the Petit Palais Art gallery or the Notre Dame cathedral – no mean trek across a traffic congested city with streets six times wider than the average city – that many of them simply gave up and sought relief in one of the many gardens and tiny sanctuaries the authorities have provided for them over the long and historic development of this incredible city.

In those gardens they may have bought a bottle of water, probably from an opportunistic unemployed Senegalese illegal immigrant and sat down for a few minutes to allow their art befuddled minds to unravel the mysteries of the great works they had spent two or three hours queuing to see> Discussed the wonderful entrance to the Louvre , the almost 500ft transparent pyramid that is the entrance to the ( arguably) greatest museum in  the world, watched the incredible array of people dressed in some of the worlds most expensive clothes or simply. Or simply kicked off their impractical shoes and swore never to make the same mistake again and let the sun refresh and relax their sore heads.

Now they are at their most disarmed and the con men’ like crocodiles on a herd of wildebeest crossing a river, move in for the kill.

Unfortunately for Parisians there is a whole host of the worlds specialist criminals that have made the city their city of choice, the river from which they extract their fodder. Why ? Because from all around Europe , naive tourists are easy prey. They are the perfect marks.Tired. naive and flush with cash they are a rich herd ready to be picked off by the mob of reptiles and scavengers that are Paris’ soft touch criminals. It is thought that together with opportunistic taxi drivers  and cynical public service personnel , the criminals target up to 1 in 5 tourists for a few euro in bad change or even hundreds of euros in scams. 

One of the favourites and oldest of course is the emotional scam , persuading someone to part with a few cents or Euro or two because the mark feels sorry for them . The awful and invidious truth is that Paris  is actually awash with deserving individuals who for some reason or another find themselves genuinely homeless. The scammmers hoover most of that up as well. Almost every main boulevard has three of four  scammers sat in public for most of the day with a dog or five tugging at the passers by heart strings.

Another is the ” Are you  ” ?  letter past out to as many passers by as possible and again appealing to the better nature of the recipient. If there is any doubting the intention of the beggar it is reinforced with a self deprecating smile, or groan and if not immediately successful then a fawning “please” follows and a quick pointing to either the stomach or the child accompanying the woman. I say woman because it usually is a female who specialises in this form of begging.

The above are harmless and as begging goes it is no more than an addition of colour to an already exotic and sensational city. But there is a dark side and that dark side is ready to fall on anyone silly or greedy enough to let it unfold it’s bat like wings over their sojourn.

These criminals are dangerous. They ensnare their potential marks through a combination of both their guile and the marks own greed, making them difficult to control and also potentially dangerous if caught close to the closure of their scams.

Card scams are very common , despite disappearing from many of the European capitals streets, Paris is awash with ” Chase the lady” merchants.They love  Mont Martre, with it tiny alleys and by-ways where they can make a quick getaway if a customer gets irate or the woefully inadequate Police come their way. These work in teams of three or more , a stooge ( usually a pretty straight forward looking woman)  and a  card shark  ( fast with his hands) as well as a hard man ( self explaining!!). Find the queen has and is still the quickest way to lose all your money. Leaving people confused and then angry as the sharks leave tout suite with their cash.

The ” Excuse me Monsieur! Is this your wallet” ? is another . When a con person reveals a wallet full of cash from close behind an innocent person just strolling by. The wallet contains cash from say Britain and they insist on exchanging it for a petty amount of Euros, netting the greedy tourist a whole lot of white paper as the wallet is quickly exchanged for an empty purse. The gold ring is the most popular con in this style of con but both are practised in Paris.

Of course buying tickets to events is the most favourite : events that are free,anyhow that is, entry on Sundays to the museums is charged too but not on every first Sunday in the new month!!.. So forged or used tickets are gathered an resold whilst the tourist stands, oblivious,  in the queues. Even vouchers are past on as savings when in fact they have been printed especially for a long term investement by the con artists.

Yes dear visitors you must be vigilant because Paris is a place to go as a lover of all sorts of things, love, art, architecture and history but not of crime and especially not as the victim of crime especially when all you have is a few euros ready to spend on a tiny little Eiffel Tower keyring which in a shop maybe just 2 Euros but in the hands of a quick talking , ever smiling immigrant may cost you more than you think!!

Oh and before I go let me say one thing. The people of Paris were incredibly welcoming and wonderful . Enjoy one of the greatest cities on earth!!