The 90-year-old, from Bordeaux, 584km southwest of Paris, had left his home for the aged care facility two months ago.
While he was away from his home, squatters took over the property. The case later came to public attention when Bordeaux's deputy mayor blogged about it, the Ouest France newspaper reported.
Last Friday, the man returned to his property with police officers who ruled that the home had to be cleaned from top to bottom.
It apparently triggered a memory in the 90-year-old who suddenly announced: "My gold bars are somewhere in the cellar."
In an astonishing turn of good fortune for the nonagenarian, a retired butcher who was not named, the squatters had not discovered the treasure.
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Police conducted a search of the basement where they found five gold bars, two rings, a signet ring, two pins and a silver coin, worth an estimated $254,330 in total.
The man was promptly escorted to a bank where he deposited his treasure - a lifetime of savings.