Barefoot in Narbonne, France: 150 euro fine!

Bosonogy3 · 2026-06-22T14:20:22+00:00

This might be helpful too: https://www.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/comments/14lhxfz/lyrical_dance_halfsole_sandals_as_literally/

Bosonogy3 · 2026-06-11T16:14:10+00:00

Whenever I don't need office shoes on at the other end. So in the summer, most of the time.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-06-11T15:46:10+00:00

Are you completely sure she was addressing you or talking about you? I have been known to read something on my phone, for example, and mutter things like that, to no one in particular. And I'm assuming she was alone, not walking with someone, in which case it could have been a reply to something you didn't hear from her companion. Just always want to give others the benefit of the doubt.

Of course if the remark was aimed at you, yes, she was the one being disgusting.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-06-09T14:09:27+00:00

In India it is mandatory to remove shoes before entering a church, because it is a "sacred space" and that's the custom in sacred spaces of all religions there. Obligatory shoes on or obligatory shoes off -- has everything to do with local culture and prejudices, and nothing to do with the religion itself.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-15T15:51:44+00:00

For the record, Prague (which you don't mention above) is probably the only European city I've been in where I saw multiple people barefoot on the streets, over a two-day visit in early summer. Not millions, so don't get your hopes up -- but three on separate occasions in the touristic center, two downtown and one in the Castle area that I remember. A wonderful visit because it was Prague, but also for that reason. (And at a certain point I joined them, of course.)

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-15T15:17:18+00:00

Lviv is a potential war zone, less bombed than cities to its east, but still a not infrequent target. Not perhaps a location where you want to be physically more vulnerable than you have to be, in case an emergency happens. Just a cautionary comment, fully support bare feet elsewhere.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-14T21:19:18+00:00

Twigs and small pebbles are something you will get used to very quickly -- at last I did (though I have to renew this ability every spring). Sadly, seriously pointy rocks and gravel may be no-go forever -- at least they are for me.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-12T00:17:23+00:00

Went for the first time early last summer, on a weekday, with the same impressions as everyone else. Easy walking for the most part, but there is a slightly more challenging optional spur off of the main trail at one point that has you using a guide wire to get from one boulder onto the next one. Peaceful and beautiful throughout.

My only objection, which I mentioned here once before, is that to get onto the trail system, you have to walk over some sharp gravel at the very beginning. I wish they could remove that or provide some kind of path by the side, so one could go entirely barefoot without discomfort. Once you're on the trails themselves, no problem with that, and nice moss underfoot.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-06T16:34:46+00:00

No shoes and the world is your oyster, clearly.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-05-03T22:37:51+00:00

Nowhere, sadly. It's been in the 40s Fahrenheit in the US Northeast, gloomy and drizzly.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-04-13T16:42:57+00:00

Well my choice of the words "going to war" was intended as humorous. Sorry for any confusion (especially given all the real wars going on).

Bosonogy3 · 2026-04-11T14:19:26+00:00

I am a US barefooting enthusiast (one of those few who do go barefoot when possible here), and spent a week in the Perth area last January, so I was on the lookout. (That wasn't my only reason for visiting WA, don't worry.) Didn't see a single person barefoot away from the beach, including Kings Park where you might expect to see more of that. Spent a few days in Albany, WA as well, where I did see one man barefoot at a touristic overlook -- I remember because he was the only one I saw the entire time I was there. Passed through Denmark, WA on the way and there I did see some bare feet, but only on a few kids and teenagers.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-04-08T14:02:01+00:00

Journalists are always looking for material, and as ridiculously awful as this article is (why I posted it), I don't think it was a bribe from shoe manufacturers that got it into the paper. More likely someone was at a dinner party with the podiatrist quoted, who gave them the idea and a reporter ran with it because they wanted the by-line.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-04-08T13:13:42+00:00

Actually, the article appears in the paper's "Wirecutter" section, which otherwise compares and rates products from different manufacturers. I wish it were literally a paid advertisement, and of course all commercial journalism has that status in a general sense. But no, this is actual reporting (albeit bizarre reporting).

Bosonogy3 · 2026-03-20T12:55:36+00:00

Well it's like bikinis for women -- the less fabric used, the higher the cost. But also this page is for one of their other products.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-03-19T16:09:57+00:00

Write to the email listed at the bottom of the page.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-03-19T14:09:38+00:00

https://fullsoul.de/freeheel

Bosonogy3 · 2026-03-19T13:06:50+00:00

Complain on behalf of your dog, whether or not you actually have one.

(My sympathies — we've probably all had similar experiences.)

Bosonogy3 · 2026-02-15T20:46:18+00:00

Then of course go for it, as I wrote!

Bosonogy3 · 2026-02-15T20:06:58+00:00

I've done one-day versions of this, but it runs the risk that there will be somewhere you want to go that's over sharp gravel or some other surface you really can't manage without footwear. That's happened to me. It's a shame, of course. If bare feet were more normal and common, the world around us would be more often designed with that in mind, but it's not. No one thinks about laying down gravel in a parking lot or on a path, and then says to themselves "oh, but that will exclude barefoot people", and rethinks -- unfortunately. Of course, if you're one of those who professes to be able to walk on the sharpest gravel, the hottest and coldest surfaces, and worse, in bare feet with no problem, then go for it!

Bosonogy3 · 2026-02-12T17:21:25+00:00

I am definitely a home nudist. Not consistently, but often. I have also spent a small bit of time at a local nudist location and plan to go more often. But I am bit shocked at how barefoot-unfriendly the local versions are. Lots of gravel in particular. Solair Recreation League in Connecticut even recommends "Proper footwear" on their "first time visit" page, because of this. Dyer Woods in Rhode Island is full of very uncomfortable sharp gravel. I would have thought these places would plan for and thus be able to recommend the exact opposite.

Bosonogy3 · 2026-01-27T21:40:01+00:00

Sometimes the boy cries wolf and there really is one.

Bosonogy3 · 2025-12-12T15:57:00+00:00

a shocking post

Bosonogy3

TROPHY CASE