Welcome to the 2002 Sainte-Marie aux Mines Show!
 
 

 
June 25th

I have had a few days of traveling around Germany and France to adjust to the 9 hour time difference between California and Europe and also to visit several dealers ahead of time to arrange for some good deals before arriving at Ste Marie... It is hot and quite humid here feeling a lot like the east coast of the US.  Still, it is a pleasure to be here... sort of.

A little tale about air travel will explain the "sort of"...   I left Weaverville early the morning of the 21st so that I could catch a flight from Redding to San Francisco and then my Lufthansa flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt.  It was to depart at 2:30 pm the 21st and arrive at 10:30 am the next day.  I had also spent the extra money for a business class seat for the 11 hour flight.  Well there is this natural phenomena called FOG which is common in San Francisco this time of year that slows everything down.... A LOT.  My flight from Redding was delayed until 2:00 pm meaning that my connecting flight was sure to be a miss.  It was.  The woman in Redding booked me on a flight that was scheduled to leave from San Francisco and go to Munich and then from Munich to Frankfurt that would leave late at night in San Francisco and arrive ultimately in Frankfurt at around 10:00 pm the next day...(This is important for later in the story.)  It was shaping up to be the day from hell for sure.   When I arrived to San Francisco the clerk at the Lufthansa counter said that the alternative flight scheduled for me in Redding was completely full and the next available flight with an empty seat to Germany was in 2 days... eye yeeeyai yeeyai.  "Wait!", she says.  United has a flight that is leaving in 45 minutes that is direct from San Francisco to Frankfurt "but you gotta go NOW!".  "What seat is it?", I ask.  Row 32 seat F. This is in the middle of the "meat compartment" I realize... Far cry from the business class seat which I have forked out for.  So it is either that or nothing for 2 days.   Off I go with a mix of feelings including good fortune and apprehension.   First to screening, where my carry on bag full of rocks confuses everyone and they want to see them... all 43 specimens of benitoite and neptunite unwrapped and laid out... They also wanted to check my shoes for explosives.  "Thanks" Osama Bin Ladin.  I hope you're buried under a pile of rocks somewhere... Needless to say the plane was not going to wait for me so it was a full on race to get to the gate in time after the bag was repacked.  I was the last person on the plane and when I got to my seat it was full confirmation of the meat compartment prediction. Ugh.  Rather hot, sweaty and bothered I had to find a place to store my carry-on luggage full of benitoite which took an extra couple of minutes to do - all the while gathering looks of animosity from people as I was responsible for keeping the plane at the gate while I hunted around for a place to put my bag.  Finally, with the bag secure at the back of the plane, to the middle of the pack I went.  Shoe horn please.

We took off about 25 minutes later than scheduled and then the day from hell continued.  The flight was uneventful except for a 30 minutes or so of serious choppy turbulence over the Rocky Mountains.  But sleep was not a possibility nor was easy movement in the cramped conditions.  We arrived in Frankfurt around 1:00 pm which was only 2.5 hours later than originally planned... This was the only bright point during the day from hell as when I got to the baggage claim and waited and waited and waited it became clear to me that  my luggage was not there with me... According to the clerk at the United desk it was still in San Francisco.   The system does not check luggage through unless the passenger it came with gets on the plane.  The clerk in Redding had scheduled me for the flight from San Francisco to Munich before getting to Frankfurt and since I was never on that plane my luggage was kept off.   That was pretty bogus.  Next in the day from hell came news from the Alamo car rental that my pre-paid car was not available.  It would take a couple of hours for a suitable car to become available.  "But", the clerk said, "for a few euros more you can have this one".   That is when the unraveling began and I insisted on speaking to the supervisor.   When he arrived I instructed him on how he was going to help bring an end to the day from hell right there and now.  I showed him my paperwork indicating the advance payment and after relating my story in its entirety while many people were waiting behind me in line he agreed to waive extra costs and let me take the car that was available for the same price.   Being totally jet lagged, fatigued and such it was clear that the potential difference between me and a thermal nuclear device was minimal.

So, for the first four days of this trip I have been running around the world in the same clothes from top to bottom.  Also, my camera was in the luggage so no pictures of the interesting places that I have seen to this point which include most of eastern France and the Rhine River Valley.    All echoes from the day from hell.

I visited two dealers during the previous days - one in Germany (he requested anonymity) where I bought a fine selection of antique European specimens and also Francois Lietard in southern France near Lyon.  So the acquisition of minerals has continued even though the atmosphere immediately around me has deteriorated.  Ah the glamorous life of a mineral dealer.  Francois has found some new finds of indicolite associated with quartz and albite from Chamachu, Pakistan.  Some have associations with crystals of topaz.  He has also found some new specimens of spessartine from Diamer in Pakistan.

This being the 25th I knew that dealers would be arriving so I went to Sainte-Marie to see what was around.  More dealers are set up earlier this year than in years past and I found quite a few interesting things.  Many good Moroccan minerals in particular including erythrite and of course vanadinite.   Also, as I said from the Costa Mesa Show, there are many VERY GOOD specimens of the new kermesite available at reasonable prices.  Jordi Fabre has pieces that are available for $200 that are better than many pieces I have seen that sold for over $1000 and up to $2000 on the web and at the Costa Mesa Show.  (Time for an editorial: This particular find has had many people talking about how pricing for minerals is spiraling out of control in some sectors.   It is becoming important for dealers to stand back and take a hard look at the way they obtain minerals and how they promote them to their customers.  For this hobby to thrive and survive it is imperative that dealers strive to educate their customers and avoid pushing the price envelop in the hopes of cashing in on a quick turn around.  It is a strong disservice to the trusting collector when he or she finds that a similar specimen that they have purchased for a lot of money could have been obtained at a fraction of the cost).   Editorial over.

An interesting turn up was a fine selection of blue and phantomed fluorite from the Le Berg Mine, in Tarn, France.  I was in the Theater when a French dealer was starting to unpack and found a very fine selection of specimens to choose from.  I picked up 5 pieces and headed out the door.  French dealer Righi Umberto also had some specimens of inky blue fluorite from a new find near Kabul, Afghanistan.   The fluorite from this locality is NOT available in crystal form anywhere.  Apparently, it is only found in massive form in veins.  The color is absolutely striking with a rich indigo blue color - some with zones of green and violet.  Most of the material is being faceted and not saved as specimen grade material.  Righi is the only dealer I have seen with specimens - the other dealers who have it only have faceted or buffed pieces.  Righi's specimens are massive but they are as good as specimens get.  Again, the color is just fantastic.

Late this evening I received word that my luggage is waiting for me in Strasbourg.  I intend to drive on over (80 km) to get my camera and rest of my clothes back... More tomorrow but pictures in a couple days I hope!
 
 

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