Almost deported...
Just over 2.5 hours ago, I was heading to the metro station. As I went down the stairs, I saw four policemen/women standing at the bottom of the stairs. This is a common occurance, so I thought nothing of it. Then the one guy motioned for me to go over to the side.
He asked for a piece of ID, so I gave him my Canadian drivers' liscence (why would I carry my passport?). The guy looked at it funny (the card being in English and he never having seen such a thing before). He passed it onto the policewoman, then onto another policeman. He asked me if I had any "knives, guns, drugs, etc." and I said "no".
He said "I hope you're not lying. Empty your pockets."
I took out my keys, wallet, kleenex, cell phone, etc. The lady picked up my wallet and started going through it. The guy then frisked me. I don't mean that he patted down my legs either. He patted down the front to make sure I didn't have anything in my underwear.
The lady saw the Canadian bills that I had in my wallet (I was going to use them at school, but never got the chance), and asked me what they were. She asked me to take them out of my wallet, and I did. She said, "Oh, you're Canadian then? Look guys, these are Canadian bills. Show them." So I showed the bills to the other three cops.
Then the guy who frisked me said, "So you're not French then. How long have you been in France for?"
I answered, "one month."
He said, "Where's your passport?"
"It's in my appartment."
"I can deport you for this. You need to carry your passport with you at all times." No one had said that before. You think that would be something important enough to mention to assistants from foreign countries. Why would I carry my passport with me everywhere? To the grocery store, to school?
I gave him a shocked look, as I was honestly shocked. The lady laughed and said, "you know, Canada isn't in Europe". (Now that was news to me...)
The first guy said, "no seriously, I can deport you to Canada right now." I mumbled something, I honestly can't remember what. I was so shocked and freaked out.
He then said, "well take your stuff and get out of here. But make sure that you take your passport with you from now on."
The thing is that there isn't a stamp in my passport indicating when I entered France. The people at French customs don't stamp passports, and hardly even look at them. Oh boy.
Needless to say, I'm still a bit shaken up, and a bit nervous. I'm OK and everything, but still shaking.
I might remember more of the details in the future, but right now I'm still a bit in shock. I can't believe it.