Hunting in France up to the time of the Revolution was just for the elite. Once the French got the rights to hunt, they weren’t going to give them up easily. M. Robin, Monsieur le Mayor, landowner and our land lord, used his land to profit from the large hunting fees. Men paid thousands to hunt. It was pure forest across from the house. Some of the land belonged to us, but most of it was M. Robin’s. Martine had stories of lead from bullets soaring through her open shutters and landing on her bed.
This one day the kids were playing in the woods with some American friends who were visiting. They came in with stories of bullets flying by their ears. This caused quite a stir and next thing you know, the game warden, the police and all the neighbours were sitting in our living room discussing the issue of hunting so close to the houses.
They wouldn’t budge. Nothing could be done to interfere with their right to hunt. I was livid. I tried to point out that if a kid had been killed our conversation wouldn't be the same. They agreed. But no body was produced, so no change in the rules.
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