Thanks for helping me to not get scammed

But, I was going to offer you a great deal on a ring!!

Someone found my ring! I hope they turned it in.

This is another example of the old adage, "You can't con an honest man." Every con begins with the promise of something for nothing. If you don't want something for nothing, they have no way to hook you.

It happened to a neighbor in Paris in June near Notre Dame. Luckily he is hard of hearing and his wife responded no thanks. They said they had found it on the ground and wanted to sell it to them.

ok this really bums me out. I stayed 1/2 block from Notre Dame and for 10 days never got scammed or found a gypsie.

I think I want a refund! :)

Michelle - I'm only half jesting - I think the Gypsies are seasonal. I think they're in Paris in the late spring and in Italy later in the summer. But I've never seen any info on this.

Never saw the ring scam, but did see lots of Gypsies in Paris.

On our last night in Paris a young woman came up to my daughter and I (hearing us speaking English no doubt) and said in her best English that she was from Italy and lost her money. She needed 3 Euros to make a phone call. The only reason we stopped at first was because she was carrying a map, and we thought she was lost. But I did tell her to get real, and we walked away laughing.

I actually agree with Doug. One advantage of traveling in the off-season was that the scam artists seem to take time off as well. I never had any trouble in Rome in December. I saw one Gypsy in Florence but she was walking down the other side of the street and ignored us. The only hint of pickpockets was on the metro, where one of my tour members had the outside pocket of her bag (which was empty) unzipped.

The most annoying thing were the street sellers, and except around the Spanish Steps/Trevi Fountain, they were pretty low-key as well.

Good job keeping your guard up Connie! Even when you know about the tricks, you can sometimes still get caught up in the moment.