Bright and early the next morning we were off to see the Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis convent, a rather dour looking place first built in 1580 and added to in 1730. The real find, however, was the statue of El Caballero de Paris, or The Gentleman of Paris, in the plaza next to the convent. From the Internet: There lived a mentally ill homeless man so beloved by the people of Havana that following his death a statue of him was erected. Tourists are told that if they touch his beard it will bring good luck. The metal statue's beard has been polished over the years by the hands of tourists and seekers of good luck. No one knows how the man came to be known as "The Gentleman of Paris", but it is suspected that his European attire and suave sophistication have something to do with it. The man apparently never referred to himself by that name, but instead called himself the "Emperor of Peace". Legend tells of a Spaniard named José María López Lledín, who was born in 1899. When he was about 14 years old, he left Spain for Cuba, where he remained until his death in a psychiatric hospital in 1985, at the age of 86. The Gentleman first began to wander the streets of Havana, after being released from a prison in Havana. Having little means of providing for himself, he survived on what he could salvage from the trash cans and from the generosity of others. He slept in the portals of churches or other public places. He dressed in ragged clothes and let his hair grow so long that he began to put it up in a bun that fell halfway down his back in ringlets. His beard gave a touch of distinction and overall, in spite of his filthy appearance, he became seen as an elegant figure at various locations throughout the city. He carried a small backpack, in which he kept pieces of paper, newspaper clippings, pencils, little empty perfume bottles and wild flowers, and would give these to anyone who gave him something to eat, a cigarette or a coin. Never one to beg for food, he was always polite and generous with those with whom he came into contact. Based on an ability to read, write and express himself with great style, along with his interest in current affairs and impeccable manners, many surmise that The Gentleman of Paris had been well educated before his arrival in Cuba. There are two differing explanations for the Gentleman of Paris' arrest and confinement at Castillo del Príncipe (The Prince's Castle), a prison in Havana. One says that when he arrived in Havana as a 14-year old boy, he was hired by a high-class lady to perform housework that included committing adultery with her. The woman's husband reportedly found out and told his wife that either she report José María for stealing valuable jewels or he would start a great scandal, divorce her and leave her in abject poverty. She agreed and the boy was arrested, beaten and locked up. It is said that "the lie and injustice, more than the bars of his cell, drove the young and handsome man crazy, and thus he was released". The other explanation is that young José María set sail from Spain aboard the Valvanera, and during a powerful hurricane the steamer was shipwrecked. Miraculously he survived, but the trauma of the experience "was the cause that made him lose his mind". At the time of his death at the Psychiatric Hospital of Havana, José María had been in treatment there for 12 years. It is said that he was "affectionately treated by excellent doctors, psychologists and nurses who loved to speak with him in his lucid moments".