A slice of life in France - a hunting tale

November 6, 2009

Ah yes, it's hard not to mention it but living in France, and especially outside any of the metropolitan areas, means facing the passion many in rural areas still seem to have for la chasse.

France is after all a country in which values of the countryside and family are still promoted and hunting, it would appear, remains an integral part of rural life.

It's perhaps ironic that given the grand debate launched this week by the immigration minister, Eric Besson, on "national values and identity" that a story so quintessentially "French" or at least representative of "life in the country" hardly caused a stir in the media.

All right, so it dates back to 2007, but is nonetheless highly topical and although perhaps only "small" in stature, from an outsider's point of view it illustrates a part at least of what "being French" is about.

Last week an appeals court in the southwestern city of Toulouse upheld a ruling made last year against Jérôme Lagarrigue.

In November 2007, Lagarrigue, who was responsible for a pack of hunting dogs, pursued a stag right into the home of Peter and Patricia Rossard (and their children) and killed it in their kitchen.

You can see a photo of the slaughtered animal here - attention it isn't for those with a weak stomach.

The couple took him to court for trespassing on private property and endangering the lives of others, and a year later he was found guilty, fined €1,000, ordered to pay a similar amount in compensation to the couple and had his licence to lead a pack of dogs revoked for two years.

But Lagarrigue, with the support of a local branch of a hunting organisation, l'association de la vénerie nationale et la fédération de chasse du Tarn, appealed the decision, insisting that killing the animal - even on private property - had been an act of hunting.

Now whatever you might think about the rights or wrongs of hunting, the case surely illustrates a part at least of what rural life in France is like.

Maybe what shouldn't be so astonishing for those living here is the fact that although the original court hearing the case handed down a judgement, the hunter saw fit to appeal and had support in his defence.

After all let's not forget France is a country in which there's even a political party Chasse, Pêche, Nature, Traditions, (Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition, CPNT) which since it was founded in 1989 has fielded candidates in two presidential elections and whose very aim is to "defend the traditional values of rural France."

Although CPNT doesn't currently have any representatives in the National Assembly or the European parliament, back in the 1999 elections to the latter it won six seats.

An anecdote related recently to me from a couple looking to buy a property in the very same part of France in which the stag in this story met its end, included words of wisdom they had received while house hunting and once again it goes some way to demonstrating how much hunting remains an important component of rural life.

The vendors of a house in which they were interested told them that if they were serious about giving up city life and starting over in the country they would have to "learn the ways of the locals".

"When you eventually buy a house with some land, don't post 'no hunting on this property' signs all over the place even if you are against it,'" they were advised.

"Try to reach a friendly understanding' with the locals as to how you felt about hunting and they would probably leave you alone."

Probably but not definitely as the Rossards discovered.

Rama Yade under fire - again

It hasn't been an easy time recently for France's junior minister for sports, Rama Yade, who is trouble again.

This time around it's over her opposition to the government's plan to abolish the droit à l'image collective (DIC) des sportifs professionnels: a tax break if you will, which currently saves rugby and football clubs in particular millions of euros each year as up to 30 per cent of a player's income can be treated as "image rights".

Yade has refused to toe the line, warning that the change would be "dangerous for the competitive status of French sport".

This latest clash comes just a couple of weeks after she broke ranks with the rest of the government by expressing disquiet publicly over the proposed nomination (later withdrawn) of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy's second son, Jean, to head Epad, the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

The reaction, and in particular criticism of Yade from her own party, the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) , over her opposition to the DIC amendment, has been swift.

"(Rama Yade) has failed to show solidarity within the government," the prime minister, François Fillon, said on Tuesday.

"I have told her that the consequences will have to be faced."

Those consequences could see Yade losing her job entirely.

Already there have been rumblings from the Elysée palace (Sarkozy's office) that she doesn't "know how to be a team player" and that there will more than likely be another government reshuffle after next year's regional elections in March.

Oh yes - and therein lies another issue.

The UMP party wants Yade to contest the Val-d'Oise département in the Ile de France region surrounding the French capital.

But Yade is resisting the pressure saying she doesn't want to be perceived as an "ethnic parachute" and would prefer to stand in another Ile de France département, that of Hauts-de-Seine, where she is already a local representative.

Yade of course is no stranger to controversy.

Indeed during her time as junior minister for human rights from June 2007 until summer this year she almost seemed to court it, often at loggerheads with government colleagues and in particular Sarkozy.

She had more than a few run-ins with her big boss and was frequently been hauled in for private ticking-offs such as during the visit of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to this country in December 2007 for example, when Yade spoke out in public and criticised the Libyan leader's human rights record.

Yade was also the object of a more public dressing down when she refused to stand for election to the European parliament, preferring to concentrate on he domestic political career.

In June this year of course things came to a head. The position she had previously held was scrapped entirely and Yade became junior minister for sports: a post widely interpreted as a demotion and a way of keeping her quiet but not getting rid of her entirely.

The thinking perhaps was that while keeping her in government, after all she regularly ranks in opinion polls as one of the country's most popular figures, there was little she could do from such a position to draw attention to herself!

Rachida Dati's latest front cover

When the former French justice minister and now member of the European parliament, Rachida Dati, makes the headlines in France it's hard to know whether it'll be for political reasons or because she's a - well for want of a better word - celebrity.

It was only a matter of time perhaps, but in terms of content and true to form it's rather the latter which marks her "return" with the front cover of last week's copy of Gala, showing a smiling Dati with daughter, Zohra.

And of course a photo spread and complete interview can be found within the pages of the weekly glossy, with Dati answering some personal and professional questions.

Dati, you might remember, was on paper at least, a pretty smart choice when she was appointed justice minister back in June 2007.

She was the first person, let alone woman, of North African origin to hold a top government post and she was seen as a symbol of just about everything the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy could wish for as he set about the task of "remodelling" the political landscape of the country.

But her time in office went slightly pear-shaped as her department haemorrhaged staff during her tenure, she went wildly over-budget in her entertainment expenses at a time when the government as a whole was recommending economic frugality, and her attempts to reform the antiquated French judicial system weren't helped by her personal style with her being lambasted as incompetent by many within the profession and the political opposition.

She was also mocked untiringly by the weekly satirical le Canard Enchaîné, and so long seemingly protected by Sarkozy, she gradually found herself exiled from the inner circle of ministers consulted over government strategy.

Even though she was successfully parachuted in to a safe seat for the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) in last year's local elections to become mayor of the seventh arrondissement of Paris, Dati's days in government were numbered.

And the final straw perhaps was her highly-publicised pregnancy; she isn't married and refused to name the father of her daughter born in January.

Her rapid return to work just days after giving birth to Zohra and the appearance of "business as usual" gave rise to the inevitable polemic as to whether she had "done the right thing" and a couple of weeks later Sarkozy quashed all speculation about what would happen to her political career (in the short term at least) by announcing that Dati would be running for a sure-fire seat in the European parliamentary elections in June, a move which would see her leave the government.

Dati might now be based in Brussels and Strasbourg for her job and her appearances within the French media less frequent, but she can still sell a few extra copies of a magazine.

And that's especially true when there's an "exclusive interview" and she promises to describe how motherhood has changed her life, her "painful" departure from government, possible aspirations to become her party's candidate for mayor of Paris in 2014 and more, much more (readers are promised).

But if you're hoping for revelations about the identity of Zohra's father, you'll be disappointed.

Dati is standing firm in her decision not to divulge his name.

"I'm not playing," she says. "It's my choice and our decision," she tells the magazine.

"Those that I love are reliable people."