I am somewhat new to Gitane bicycles as this brand of bicycle was not widely distributed in my part of the world. I have not seen up close very many Gitane bicycles. I do not know the model names well, I do not know the approximate date based on the decal scheme. I do not know a lot about the history of the company.

What I do know is that some of the bicycles have a lot of numbers stamped into the bottom bracket.
Some Gitane bicycles have numbers stamped into the dropout.

Are these just numbers or is there information encoded in them?
I have read on the internet that Gitane serial numbers have no meaning in them. Maybe this is true and maybe not.

Well lets find out for ourselves, because you cannot trust everything that you read from the internet.

First thing to do is collect data. Collect as many number stampings as I can find.