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How To Retire Without Money
By Bob Belmont
CHAPTER 10
FRANCE
Page 3 of 16
The French as a people probably take more trouble to achieve
the good life than any other in the world. Unless pushed by
poverty, they wouldn't dream of eating poor food, wouldn't
dream of sleeping in less than a comfortable bed, wouldn't
dream of not looking the best in regards to clothing. It has
been no mistake that France has become the luxury nation of
the world.
Once you have made friends of a French family, you will find
them honest and hospitable, very good friends but very bad
enemies. You'll find they have as great a love of country as
any nation in the world and an attitude, even stronger than we
Americans have about the States, that there just is no other
place to live in the world but France.
§
MONEY. The French franc is one of the most fouled up
currencies on earth. Not even the French trust it and when a
Frenchman accumulates a bit of money he is more apt to buy
gold with it and bury the metal under the floor than he is to
put it in the bank. And for good reason. During this century
the franc has dropped from its original value of about 254 to
the point where now you can get between 450 and 500 per dollar
on the free market exchange.
The legal rate is 420 to the dollar but French law allows you
to bring any amount of French francs into the country so the
smart operator, be he tourist or more permanent visitor, buys
his francs in New York, Switzerland or Tangier and reaps the
benefits.
One warning in changing dollars into francs. If you run short
of francs, dealing with the black market (the noir, they call
it) is
risky. Particularly in Paris, the changers who hang around the
vicinity of the American Express office are a vicious gang
that will try every trick in the book from short changing you
to slipping a few counterfeit bills in with the good ones. In
fact don't follow one of these gentlemen down a dark alley to
do your business transactions. If you do, there's a good
chance that you won't come out again. If you do change any
money on the black market in Paris, take along a French friend
and preferably deal with someone he knows.
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