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Post by madamtrashheap on Apr 10, 2013 18:18:12 GMT -5
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Post by WillTravel on Apr 11, 2013 2:25:56 GMT -5
I can imagine it's awful for the employees to work in that sort of environment. This underscores the importance of a 2-part strategy: 1) Figure out a way to make yourself more resistant to pickpocketers. For some people, this involves a moneybelt. If you do that, don't dig into your moneybelt in public. Go to a restroom, and get the required cash or card out first. I'd suggest, if you do this, to keep a limited amount of cash/1 credit card in a spot outside your moneybelt, just to avoid this need to dig in your moneybelt. If you don't use a moneybelt, you should still have a strategy to avoid flashing large amounts of cash. 2) Either way, the best-laid protections can go awry. Have some emergency cash available, your passport scanned and perhaps saved to email (I recognize a potential security hazard if your email is hacked). If you are going on something like a daytrip far from your accommodation, be doubly sure to have your cash stored in 2 places. Don't be scared - being injured or killed by a thief is extremely rare in Europe. Just take care of your possessions and cash as best you can. |
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Post by Eagle on Apr 13, 2013 1:55:03 GMT -5
One of the interesting aspects of this story is the fact that the pickpockets are now reportedly becoming "increasingly violent" towards Museum staff and also presumably against tourists on occasion. I wonder if there's any correlation between the increasing pickpocket activity and the current economic situation in Europe?
I expect to be back in Paris in a few months and it will be interesting to see if the pickpocket situation has really increased since my last visit.
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Post by Eagle on Jul 21, 2013 0:46:11 GMT -5
An update from my previous post. I was in Paris in early July, and had no problems at all with pickpockets, even at the Louvre. I dived into the tightly packed "scrum" in front of the Mona Lisa, but except for a few light touches on my backside (probing for a wallet?), there were no theft attempts. There was a noticeable security presence this time and numerous signs warning of pickpockets, so maybe that's having some effect.
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