France has wonderful wildlife, gorgeous habitat, and a culture devoted to hunting. The tension and dialogue among devotees of hunting and of nature is captured in the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature. This eclectic museum is located in Paris and is operated by a foundation that also operates a private club and a game reserve in the Ardennes. The museum itself is oddly intriguing, with rooms dedicated to different themes. There is a wild boar (sanglier) room, a room devoted to monkeys, one full of porcelain, and an entire cabinet of guns owned by Louis XIII, Empress Maria Theresa (Marie Antoinette’s mother?), and Napoleon. Now, that’s an odd group. I would have expected a room dedicated to Francois 1er. Be that as it may, I tried to upload the legally permitted pictures, but this site does not accept their format. The museum is open from 11-6 daily, except Monday. The website is lovely, musical, and almost a virtual tour at:
I did get an aerial of the Reserve de Bel-Val:
The Club is located in Paris in a mansion designed by Mansart (think Versailles) and built in 1651.
It appears that the French have a museum for everything!