I did my internship with my British friend, Paris Walker, at the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (French Walking Federation). The person in charge of the work placement was Jean-Michel Humeau, who is the director of the Federation. The organisation was created on August 22nd, 1947 thanks to Jean Loiseau. The French Walking Federation is represented everywhere in France through departmental and regional committees. It has a centre of national information. It unites ramblers’ clubs.

 

The president of the federation is Claude Hue. This federation is a big organisation in France. It is the only sport federation where the majority of the staff is female (62% are women). They organise a lot of big events where there are more than one thousand people. The federation works in partnership with another sport federation and Fondation Arc, a charity which fights against cancer.

 

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of following a path, marked or not. En route we saw that some walls, posts and trees were marked in white, yellow or red paints like in the wood. Hiking is made on foot. Hiking is a leisure of discovery and a physical exercise at the same time. Hiking looks like orienteering but contrary to orienteering it is not a competition. It is an easily accessible and feasible leisure everywhere.

 

There are a lot of events which are organized, such as the rando challenge. The rando challenge is a hike done by a team of 2 to 4 people. The atmosphere is friendly. Along the way walkers answer questions. To come up with the right answers, it is necessary to observe the fauna, the flora and to have some cultural knowledge. Hiking allows people to improve their physical condition without straining yourself.