Nature/Sport | France Revisited

The author at the Ball Trap Club de Gonesse in a suburb of Paris

The Borrowed Gun: Sports Shooting in France

By Joe Wilkins

I miss my own shotguns when I go to Paris. But while in France on sabbatical this year I’ve been sports shooting now anyway, with borrowed guns, and doing so has given me a glimpse of what some here consider as much a part of French culture as wine and cheese and baguettes.

Private ownership of shotguns and hunting rifles by individuals with clean criminal records is in fact quite common in France. There are actually a number of shops right in Paris that sell guns and ammunition.


Bonjour Y’All, It’s Equiblues: A Remote French Town Gets Into the Rodeo Spirit On a typical day nothing about the remote town of Saint-Agrève (pop. 2,600), in the rural and generally bypassed upper plateau of Ardèche in southeastern France, would allow the rare visitor to imagine that its inhabitants have the slightest interest in Americana. Read More
The Natural Pleasures of WWOOFing in Europe In April 2008 Judy and Dave Kashoff temporarily shut down their lives in the Philadelphia suburbs of Bucks County and set off for travels around the world. Judy, 58, closed her accounting ledgers and turned off her potter's wheel while Dave, 53, sold his dental practice. Rather than wait for the proverbial golden years, they rented out their house, dropped their cats off with Dave's mother, kissed their two grown children good-bye, and set off for a year or more of travels by bike, by horse, by foot, and by golly let's just do it! Read More
Paris on the Run: A Guide for the Jogging Traveler Paris’s compact beauty, regularly spaced parks and gardens, and romantic stretch of river make this one of the world’s most beloved walking cities. Now strap on a pair of running shoes and you’ll find that those same elements add up to a great jogging city as well. Large swaths of the city can be viewed in a street-and-sidewalk run. In 30 to 60 minutes of footing or jogging, as the French call it (emphasis on the ting and the ging), you can cover half a guidebook’s worth of major sites. Read More

Bonjour Y’All, It’s Equiblues: A Remote French Town Gets Into the Rodeo Spirit

On a typical day nothing about the remote town of Saint-Agrève (pop. 2,600), in the rural and generally bypassed upper plateau of Ardèche in southeastern France, would allow the rare visitor to imagine that its inhabitants have the slightest interest in Americana.

The Natural Pleasures of WWOOFing in Europe

In April 2008 Judy and Dave Kashoff temporarily shut down their lives in the Philadelphia suburbs of Bucks County and set off for travels around the world. Judy, 58, closed her accounting ledgers and turned off her potter's wheel while Dave, 53, sold his dental practice. Rather than wait for the proverbial golden years, they rented out their house, dropped their cats off with Dave's mother, kissed their two grown children good-bye, and set off for a year or more of travels by bike, by horse, by foot, and by golly let's just do it!

Paris on the Run: A Guide for the Jogging Traveler

Paris’s compact beauty, regularly spaced parks and gardens, and romantic stretch of river make this one of the world’s most beloved walking cities. Now strap on a pair of running shoes and you’ll find that those same elements add up to a great jogging city as well.

Large swaths of the city can be viewed in a street-and-sidewalk run. In 30 to 60 minutes of footing or jogging, as the French call it (emphasis on the ting and the ging), you can cover half a guidebook’s worth of major sites.