Jean-Pierre Rampal's gold Louis Lot flute

I found my Louis Lot flute in 1948 by good luck. I had two managers and one told me, 'You know, I have a French flute that is gold.' 'You said gold?' ''Yes, French, but in Chinese.' 'Chinese?'; I was thinking it must be the Louis Lot, the only gold one he made and very famous. This flute was made for Jean Remusat, a salon flute player, I mean a high society flute player. When he was getting old, the Philharmonic Society of Shanghai invited him to be the president, he accepted and to thank him they ordered this flute. I said I must see it, and my managers said sure, but it was broken. They showed it to me, and of course it was the Lot. They loaned it to me, and I was so excited. I sent the flute to my father in Marseilles, and he worked all the day and night; he called me in the morning and said it was a fantastic flute. He couldn't sleep before; he made the pads and everything . . . I said I would like to buy it, and I had to pay them in Louis d'or, which was twenty-four carat gold and difficult to find. But it was worth it, and now really quite a bargain.
A Haynes flute is close to the Louis Lot. When I first came in the States, I was really impressed immediately. They gave me a flute to try and I liked it very much. I went back to France and began to play it, and I stuck with it. Now I have another Haynes too, and I keep the Louis Lot in France in a safe.