❤️ Faery Muse Monday: Celeste and the Most Expensive "Secret" in Paris

Paris, 1925

If you wanted the latest gossip, you didn't read the newspaper.

You found Celeste Laurent.

She owned the prettiest little hat boutique just off the Champs-Élysées, and somehow knew everyone's business before they did.

One Tuesday morning, a sharply dressed gentleman entered her shop carrying a leather briefcase.

He leaned in and whispered,

"Mademoiselle... promise me you won't tell anyone."

Celeste smiled.

"Of course."

He looked around to be certain no one was listening.

"The government is secretly selling the Eiffel Tower."

Celeste blinked once...

...and burst into laughter.

"Monsieur, if Paris ever sold the Eiffel Tower, half the city would arrive wearing black in mourning."

The gentleman insisted it was true.

Official papers.

Secret meetings.

Millions of francs.

He hurried away to meet "government officials."

Celeste watched him disappear down the street, shook her head, and told her customers,

"That poor man is about to make someone else very rich."

She was right.

The mysterious gentleman had fallen for one of history's greatest scams. The con artist Victor Lustig had convinced wealthy businessmen that the Eiffel Tower was being sold for scrap.

For years afterward, whenever someone tried to tell Celeste an unbelievable rumor, she'd simply smile and say,

"Is this before or after they sell the Eiffel Tower?"

The entire shop would erupt in laughter.

✨ What's the funniest rumor you've ever heard that turned out to be completely false?

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