Jeremy
For my tastes, it's a great found image but not in the colours/tones you chose for it: I would reduce it all to black/white and spend time bringing that to the best that I could. Of course, that opinion comes from a long-established bias against messing about/up with Kodak's WSG 2 papers that were, in my view, far, far better than most photographers could utilise; sepia was also an obligatory technique at night school and that did it no favours. To me, these 'tricks' are the paint on a whore. You don't need them at all, the worst possible way to waddle in nostalgia. Setting up a shot à la old-fashioned is one thing...
FWIW, I believe that taking away bits and pieces from these 'found' situations only serves to weaken them; it's okay if you are creating from a blank canvas, but when something just grabs you, then it's pretty much got it right by itself.
Anyway, you clearly know what you're looking for; get back to France soon and enjoy.
Rob C