Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles: Recent Episodes
Louise Prichard
In Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles we chat about all things “français” to get your Frenchy vibes happening here at home in Australia or wherever you are around the world! We will hear tips and ideas that aren’t in the tourist brochures from various podcast guests living both in Aus and France. Join us on a journey to be immersed in a variety of French experiences to brighten and enrich the dullest of days and daydream of fun in France! À bientôt, loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Marloes Halmans moved her family from the Netherlands to Burgundy in France prior to Covid and loves sharing all that she loves about her adopted home! The greenery, the wildlife, the rural farming, the wine, the food... I completely agree with her, there is something very special about Bourgogne! There always seems to be something happening regardless of the time of year for a visit.
Marloes and I chatted about some cultural differences between the Dutch and French, things that would impact the manner in which new people are accepted. We also discussed some of the quirks of moving to France including having her young children start school with no French fluency at all! Marloes and her family were also renovating an old farmhouse when they first arrived, so there were lot's of challenges!
Marloes and I had a lovely chat about French style in this podcast chat. We ponder that what we as non-French people usually describe as French design is actually not much at all like a common French home. But there is a style that we often consider evokes a sense of Frenchiness and I must say, that often helps me to feel connected to France. They have overcome any issues and now have a beautiful home and a wonderful YouTube channel sharing their French life as well as places and homes that Marloes visits all over France.
Marloes has only one goal and that is to bring people into the warmth and calmness of her home, to help people around the globe to escape by sharing happiness, beauty and peace. Marloes is living a beautiful French life and has reminded me to live life intentionally, with purpose.
Tune in and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
There's no way to lead into this gently... Jane Bertch inspires me!
Jane has lived for decades in Paris. She left Chicago until work brought her to Europe in 2000. After not naturally having Paris on her radar, Jane eventually found her way there and almost by accident she started her cooking school. The success of La Cuisine Paris is no accident though! Hard work and determination has got it to the amazing place it is today. Years ago I did a class at La Cuisine Paris and absolutely loved it, so it is no surprise to me that it is a raging success!
Speaking to Jane in this episode uncovered some great musings about Paris, France, how we get to where we are and considering the big decisions in our life! Even so, it's the little things in France that can make a difference. An invitation for coffee is sometimes not just a request to join for a cuppa!
As well as discussing cooking in Paris, Jane and I touch on how we can be tolerant and understanding, how we as women can lift each other up and how we can find joy in our own lives, which at my place involves fun times in our Shenanigans Shed! "This is not the waiting room for death!"
Tune in and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Chiara Benedetto came to live in Paris with an internship in a science field and has now built a life there. Growing up in a simple Italian town, Chiara always felt connected to French culture and language, so it felt a natural progression to head to a Francophone country like Canada, Belgium or France for her work. In this Loulabelle's chat, I was fascinated to hear about Chiara's work, as well as her Parisian life - from the practicalities of sharing in university accommodation, to her own apartment, to having a "melting-pot" group of friends coming to live in Paris from all around the globe.
Chiara helps others now with the paperwork required when migrating to France. Her assistance is not based just on her own experience, but on the needs of each individual, as everyone's situation can be different. Chiara doesn't sugar coat the immigrant experience in Paris, but she describes how those who move and stay in France develop a "grit that no filter can capture".
Tune into this chat and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Elise McLeod is a film director and acting coach who has called France home for over 30 years. After travelling there as an exchange student in her high school years, Elise made a decision: once she knew what she wanted to do with her life, she was going to return to Paris to live it there!
Elise has a film Reclaim the Night in competition this week (on 6 June) in the St Kilda Film Festival. The film is set in Paris telling the fictional story of two best friends, one had the best night of her life and one experienced the worst. Reclaim the Night was originally a movement that started in the UK in the 1970s, protesting about safety for women.
Elise also has another film she made in the late 1990s, Last Drinks which is playing this Friday night (5 June) at The Astor Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne. Last drinks is a doco telling the story of the 90s closure of the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel in St Kilda, a landmark many Melbourne people will know of.
Elise and I have been to the Cannes Film Festival together and this chat gives us a little insight into the amount of work that goes into her industry. To escape the busy-ness of her professional world, Elise and her husband Charles have bought a rundown property in the Burgundy region of France. They have now renovated and soon will open for guests to stay, also transforming a huge old shed into a party room, a salle de fête. Elise and I chatted about finding brocantes, connecting with nature in Bourgogne, taking the back roads through France as well as our fave regions and the wonderful quirkiness of those pockets of the French countryside.
So pour a cuppa, or a glass of something French and close your eyes as you sit back and escape to France with us, to hear all about Elise's beautiful French life.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
What a milestone! 200 episodes! And what a great way to celebrate by chatting about the Cannes Film Festival, both this year's event as well as the times Loulabelle has attended with Ruby Boukabou in the past.
Lou and Ruby have had a number of Cannes highlights over the years, walking the red carpet, meeting iconic actors, or just immersing in the Cannes craziness! We chat about the memorable moments we have experienced there including an amazing speech by Robert De Niro, as well as a beautiful escape from Cannes to the islands off the coast which are full of history and charming calmness.
Ruby Boukabou is an accomplished author as well as a tap dancer extraordinaire, a journalist, a photographer, just a wonderful creative soul. We chat about the ways listeners can connect with Ruby in Australia as well as back in France with her new book The Movie Lovers Guide to Paris.
Head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for the links discussed in this ep.
Come and escape to France with us momentarily x
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
People often say that Paris left a mark on them, even after one visit. Sometimes that mark can be a healing one, especially after the not-so-long-ago Covid years.
Tune into this beautiful chat with artist Kerry Lucas and uncover how she found a way to connect to other creatives like her whilst connecting to the place she loves, Paris and also healing her creative soul within.
Come and escape to France momentarily with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Katherine Burns loves Paris and shares her love of all things French through her Insta account @rue.dauphine.paris. She chatted for the second time on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles in this episode, about how she keeps connected to France.
Katherine first found that France was definitely the place for her when she discovered French food and cooking. We chatted about where she likes to visit when in Paris to get her foodie fix as well as some other iconic places from her last French trip which was only a few weeks ago for the Foire de Chatou brocante fair and a pop in to Château de Chantilly where she happened upon a polo match.
If you like travelling slowly where there's time to allow for magic memories to happen, then you'll love to escape to France virtually with us in this chat.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Mandy Murphy has chatted with me on the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles previously with her husband Willo Renehan to talk all about her gorgeous home La Maison Trumeau in Saumur in the Loire Valley. Mandy and Willo were inspired by Dick & Angel on Escape to the Château, and made the decision after Brexit to buy property in France, which they are making their permanent home.
Mandy introduced me in this podcast episode to her colleague Camilla Degerth who has made 12 international relocations (so far). Camilla shares her knowledge of what it takes to move from one part of the globe to another. She shares a global mindset, but she also brought up some of the main issues that relocation can bring, and it's not all about the French bureaucracy.
This year Mandy and Camilla are hosting a coaching retreat for those thinking about or already making the move to Europe to work through the issues that intended relocators face. Camilla says one of the hardest challenges people face when moving internationally is loneliness, especially if there's a language barrier. In their retreat that focuses on landing in France successfully, attendees will delve deeply to find what they really want and they can do that in France.
Sometimes what we truly want isn't clear until we start making the dream a reality. So come and dream away with us as we escape to France momentarily.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Paris is a city that lives in the hearts of people from around the world and has so many movies set there. I've also found loads of movies or shows that use Paris as a backdrop and I love searching as I watch for glimpses of places I've been in the French capital.
If you love Paris and love films, Ruby Boukabou has a new book out The Movie Lover's Guide to Paris, which takes the reader on a journey through Paris, exploring the city through the lens of over 200 movies. Discovering Paris with this book, you'll find cafés, cinemas, streets, iconic landmarks, as well as the hidden corners that have appeared on the silver screen for over a century. In this episode of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles, Ruby takes us on a petit meander through Paris along the Seine, highlighting the sites that have appeared in a number of well-known movies.
Go to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website to blogpost 196 to find the link for Ruby's dedicated Google map, then follow along as you listen to the chat!
Join us and escape to France momentarily...
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Elisabeth Perotin is French, having grown up in the Champagne region and still currently living in Reims. Elisabeth is a photographer specialising in travel and food photography, with only French themed pics on her Instagram @frenchglimpses. Tapping into Elisabeth's local knowledge during this chat uncovered a number of places in Paris and France that I'd not heard of, but I am now adding to my list! If you want to find quirky but yet authentic places to add to your itinerary when planning a French visit then tune into this episode for lots of inspiration!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Catherine Berry is an author who has chatted on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast previously (eps 39 & 112) about the life changing decision to move her family to the French village of Annecy for a year when her children were young.
We come back to chat again to Catherine to hear how that stay has made a positive impact of the lives of her whole family, but also about a new experience she had staying in the Italian village of Lucca for 3 months. Loulabelle and Catherine chat about the experience of being non-fluent in a foreign country, about the cultural similarities and differences of Italy and France, as well as how Catherine made arrangements to stay and live like a local in Italy for 12 weeks.
Hear about Catherine's new books (she now has four!) including one about how to play with your child (or grandchild) in French.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
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Donna Guest is the Co-Founder, CEO & Creative Director
of fashion house Blue Illusion, which is a French inspired brand bringing fashion, homewares and all sorts of French connections to their customers everywhere.
In this chat Loulabelle delves underneath the brand to find the woman and uncover what inspires her and keeps her connected to France. We find out about her fave experiences in France including a surprise stay in a medieval chateau, attending Le Diner en Blanc with 30,000 other diners and even getting into a sold-out Beyonce concert in Paris! Donna tells us her go-to French food whenever she's over there, plus her way to keep her Frenchy vibes fluttering here in Australia.
Come and float away to France momentarily with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
On 19 October 2025, thieves wearing high-vis work wear, used a stolen furniture removals truck to get into a top floor of the Louvre in Paris, stealing pieces of the French Crown Jewels from the Galerie d'Apollon ('Apollo's Gallery'). The amazingly swift robbery took place at around 9.30am on what seemed to be a regular Sunday morning.
In this podcast chat, hear Loulabelle discuss the situation with historian and Paris resident Claudine Hemingway who knows the Louvre like the back of her hand! Claudine was interviewed on USA Today the day after the heist and gives us the low down on all the details from a local perspective: what happened on the day, what is the impact on the Louvre, what's happened since and how George Clooney is involved!
**Chat recorded - Sunday 2 November.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Canadian author Patricia Sands is so connected to France, through her novels which are most often set there in Provence. Coming out on 15 November, 2025 is her latest book The French Effect, set in Paris with the story heading down to Nice on the Cote d'Azur as well.
I loved my "petit papotage" with Patricia about her experiences in France. We chatted whilst she was in Antibes in the South of France, this time road-tripping with friends, but over the past few decades she and her husband have done 17 house-exchanges to live like a local in France and Patricia has also taken tours of women to Provence to follow the paths of her wonderful characters in her stories. Listening to Patricia talk about her travels took me straight back to France, so come and join us for a tres beau momentary virtual escape!
Head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles instagram page to comment on the post announcing this episode, to win an ebook copy of The French Effect once it's released on 15 November.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Pierrick Boyer is a celebrated French pastry chef who has earned the French highest honour of the Chevalier Merite Agricole for his services to France and French culture through his pastry work and he has called Melbourne home for over 20 years.
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Paula Nikita has come to call Melbourne home for the last 5 years and is now being mentored by Pierrick to succeed as the inaugural Viennoiserie World Cup winner ad the first to represent Australia!
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I was fascinated to hear their stories and to chat about how scientific the process is when creating the perfect croissant! Tune into to this chat to hear what makes the perfect croissant, but even more interestingly to hear about Paula's Aussie influence with the upcoming competition, including VEGEMITE!
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Anyone wishing to assist the Go-Fund-Me to cover half the costs of competing in France, click here: Support the Aussie team's Go-Fund-Me to head to France
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To attend a gala event this coming weekend on 18 October 2025 at Reverie Café Prahran, click here: Tix for the Pastry Party at Reverie Cafe, Prahran - 18 October, 2025
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Earlier this year I road tripped around France and spent a couple of weeks in Burgundy with friends of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast, Kate and Nathan Veach.
Kate and Nathan had a French restaurant in Melbourne prior to making the permanent move to France just after Covid after buying a place on the internet during the Aussie lockdowns. Since that time I have stayed in the cottage they renovated originally which was a wonderful experience. Kate and Nathan exude a warmth that makes every day with them a joy. I'm thrilled to see that they now have sold up and bought a bigger project still in Burgundy, an historic house dating to the 1870s which was in a state of severe disrepair, in Paris l'Hôpital.
Chatting to Kate about my recent time in their village made me just want to go back. They were still renovating during my visit but have now reached a point in the project that they can start to share it with others. The house looks incredible, decorated as only the French can, from brocante markets and eclectic pieces found in exotic places! The colours and sights of Burgundy now in autumn with the harvest are amazing. I have visited the region previously at this time of year and found there were less crowds, less heat and much more opportunity for life time memories!
Tune into this chat to hear the exquisite life that guests can share with Kate and Nathan, to find out all about what the tastes, scents and sights of Burgundy have to offer. From market visits, to cooking classes in their own kitchen, to wine tasting as well as authentic Burgundian life, there is so much gorgeousness to look forward to when heading for a stay with this beautiful couple in their French home.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I love road tripping in France and I aim to get there and meander the roads less travelled as often as I can! In the April/May of 2025 I took a "vacances" in France for a couple of months and embarked on 3 separate road trips with separate groups or individual friends.
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Author Katherine Watt and I became great friends after she was interviewed on the Loulabelle's podcast a number of years ago and I have spent much time with her on previous visits to France where she now lives in Saint-Malo, Bretagne. Both Katherine and I were excited to road trip through a part of Provence that neither of us had been to before. We agreed on a rough outline of the route we might take, but importantly we both were happy not to lock in too much of the detail and just go with the flow! I normally plan much more than this, so it was oddly refreshing or even freeing to make decisions about where we would stay and what we would do at the last minute! I had a car for the full 6 weeks of the road trips I took, which made the last minute decisions a bit easier as we didn't need to factor in public transport.
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Our journey started in Lyon, with the first day comprising a 5 hour drive to Aix-en-Provence to commence the road trip. After this day though, we stayed off the motorways and took only the back roads. We also opted to stay in Airbnb style accommodation so we could cook in our own kitchen sometimes and we would have the capacity to store and enjoy local produce we bought along the way. We also decided that we wouldn't drive for more than an hour or so each day to allow time to immerse in the local area we found ourselves in.
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Tune into this episode and escape to Provence momentarily with us. Head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for more info on some of the places mentioned in this papotage de podcast aussi.
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Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Eva Bonnet knew from a very early age growing up in France, that Australia was going to be a very special place for her! Eva didn't plan to come to Australia directly, but as she says, "life brought her here".
Eva chatted to me about how she ended up living a French life in Melbourne. Since making the permanent move down under, Eva has found love, had a cancer diagnosis and beaten it, brought two bubbas into the world and most recently taken the socials by storm with now almost half a million followers joining in the French connection she shares with everyone.
At the moment Eva is giving away a trip to Paris for a lucky subscriber to her Bonjour Mate French classes (subscribe before 31st August to be in the draw which will be announced at the end of September!)** Bonjour Mate is open to all countries, so not just for an Aussie community, with current subscribers hailing from all around the globe.
Chatting with Eva so frankly about her story, put the priorities of life into perspective for me. Her beautiful rawness and honesty are quiet an inspiration.
I often wonder for French people not living in France, what do they miss, what things do they try and recreate in their new homeland. Throughout our chat, Eva described her thoughts of France so clearly, that I felt I had been on a lovely petit sojourn to my fave place. Her description of the road trips she took with her maman as a child especially helped me to float away.
Find all the details from this chat on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website, including the current Bonjour Mate Paris giveaway.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Harriet Churchill and her husband Henry are originally from England, but spent many years living in Australia based in Melbourne originally, working in the area of sustainability, but eventually moved to regional Victoria right near me! I first heard of their story and their vineyard in the Macedon Ranges Zig Zag wines, when I was hanging out with other locals around the fire during happy hour at my local pub! I'm thrilled that I followed her up for a chat as I found our discussion about her life thoroughly inspirational! If you're wondering about making a change in your life, whatever that change may be, have a listen to Harriet and you will just want to grab life with both hands and shake it up!
Harriet described their life in Australia, which seems to me to be quite "French country" in the manner in which they operated. I also got a beautiful insight into their life now in France. It was fascinating to hear Harriet talk about the difference in the way the winemaking successes, as well as the challenges can pop up in Australia and now France. She also talked about the difference between being "good" or "fluent" with her French, as she can get by with most exchanges, until she gets to the other mums with the school gate gossip and she's got no idea what's going on!
This is such a wonderfully warm and heart-filled chat about immersing in life's experiences as they present themselves.
In this episode I was introduced to a new concept when Harriet talked about what the heart needs and what the heart wants. Her heart wanted to stay in Australia, but it needed to move back closer to her family in the UK and the Languedoc region in France was the perfect fit for them all.
Come and escape to France with us through our chat xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Italian born Vittoria Busetti had a dream for many years of moving to Paris, so she worked a way around the obstacles in her path, packed up her Milan apartment a few years ago and took the leap to her new Parisian life!
Moving all alone to a new city with a new job is not without its challenges, so after navigating through loads of situations where she struggled to find helpful info, Vittoria put together a guide for people moving to Paris as well as an Insta group which has become like a little community for people to connect about current Paris events like the recent Fete de la Musique.
Vittoria has loads of tips for surviving alone in Paris either as a traveller or as a new resident as well as ways she found to make friends.
Chatting to Vittoria about the various arrondissements and lots of our Paris faves made me feel like I'd had a momentary Parisian sojourn.
Come and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Alexandra Ganipeau runs the French Language school in Melbourne "The French Hack". She has connected people in Australia to France over many years, through organising cafe catch ups as well teaching French to people of all ages.
Recently I chatted to her about how she is now connecting people to France with a weekly dose of Frenchy vibes via her Weekly French Bites. Over 52 weeks Francophiles can experience a "bite" of French culture, language and fabulousness with different themes such as French ordering at restaurants, how to enjoy apèro, the French art of wearing scarves or even tips to navigate the Paris Metro or French market etiquette. I found when I had a sneak preview of the Weekly French Bites, it stayed in my head long after I'd finished reading and brought back memories of travels there as well as sparking ideas for my next adventure!
Alex and I chatted about our connections to France, how we maintain slow and deep connections when we travel as well as when home in Australia. When Alex chats in this episode about her visits back "home" to Bordeaux and the south west of France, I felt like I had escapes there with her momentarily. I also learned from her about some ways I can be a little bit French everyday, such as picking herbs straight from the garden and adding to a teapot rather than loose leaf or tea bags! This is a French way of connecting garden to the kitchen that I had never even considered!
Alex has a giveaway to a lucky Loulabelle's FrancoFiles listener... 52 weeks of French Inspo with a 12 month membership to Weekly French Bites! Follow through to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram to enter and to let the joie de vivre begin! As Alex says Paris isn't just a place, it's a feeling.
Join us for a chat and escape to France xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Recently I travelled for a couple of months in France, road tripping from the top of the country in Normandy to the bottom at the Côte d'Azur and towards the end of my stay I enjoyed a most marvellous visit with Caroline Riddell-Clark at her Villa Florente in Menton on the Italian border.
Caroline has stayed in France each year for many years, spending much of that time in Menton staying with friends who had moved there a long time ago. So during the Melbourne Covid lockdowns it was not a surprise that Caroline was surfing the internet for the French real estate on offer and as soon as she could, she headed back over there! Whilst a long time ago Caroline had lived in France for a number of months near Toulouse, with her children even attending school there, it was Menton that had captured her heart. Caroline had decided to wait for a few years before purchasing a property but after 20 minutes in Villa Florente, she had bought the place!
Menton has beautiful beaches with beautiful buildings of different colours, reflecting the colours of the Cinque Terre just across the Italian border. There is a long history including pirates as well as Russian palaces nestled in between Monte Carlo and Italy, and from Caroline's Villa Florente one can walk between 3 countries before lunch! I loved how a stroll into Italy can result in wonderful coffee followed by market shopping for fresh produce in France and then end the day with glitz and glamour in Monte Carlo! Caroline says after a walk like this, she comes home and feels like she's the luckiest person ever to look over her amazing Mediterranean view.
Caroline now wants to welcome others to stay with her too, but first come and join us for a chat here on the Loulabelle's and escape to the Cote d'Azur momentarily.
Find Caroline on Instagram @Villa_Florente
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I am currently in France and have been road-tripping all over the place, but more on that in upcoming episodes...
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At the moment I have connected with friend to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast Ruby Boukabou and in this episode we discussed some observations from this particular Cannes Film Festival. We had tickets for the opening night red carpet event and we were in the room for the opening ceremony too, to see Robert De Niro receive his honorary Palme d'Or presented by Leonardo DiCaprio. I felt a shift in Cannes this time, with a more overt political statement being made, particularly i the opening night speeches from De Niro, DiCaprio and head of the 2025 Cannes jury Juliette Binoche.
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Ruby and I also spoke about the opening night movie "Partir Un Jour", the other goings-on in Cannes as well as what to do to escape the craziness for just a short time or a day-trip! We also touch on when the best time is, to visit Cannes for your specific purposes.
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Tune in and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Kent Tisher is a Palliative Care Doctor in Toronto Canada who loves to unwind and shed the stress of life by traveling in France. I first chatted to Kent back in April 2023 about his love of French vacations and it was fabulous to chat again as he arrived home in Canada on the same day that I arrived in Paris!
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Kent came to France this time for only 10 days. He caught the TGV direct from CDG down to the Languedoc region to end up in Pezenas near Montpellier. This is a game changer for me as I had no idea there was a TGV to access straight from CDG!
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(Tip from Kent: Check that you know the exact station you are either arriving at or departing from as many towns have more than one train station with very similar names!)
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Kent has lots of other personal observations and tips from his experiences during his travel that are key for anyone considering regional regional travel in France. I also have some considerations from my current trip to add to your list which we discussed in this episode!
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You may want to think about:
- car hire: size of car and type of hire arrangement;
*short vs long French sojourns (European/North American travellers vs Australian/NZ voyages);
*currency conversions;
*making specialty arrangements for things such as scuba dives;
*planning for where to go on road trips solo or with a group;
*packing light (which I always struggle with!);
*packing arrangements on a daily basis to assist with managing luggage on a road trip.
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Something else we discuss is the concept of visiting new places vs revisiting old faves. I am very aware of being fortunate enough to return to France on numerous occasions. Kent and I discussed how lucky we are, but also how we go without some things at home to enable these trips to our happy place. When visiting a new place there can be a sense of guilt if we don't make the most of every minute! But when enjoying a return trip there is a different energy about the visit. I always say to leave a reason to return and one of the reasons to return to the same region if you're fortunate to be able to do so, is to see it at a less frenetic pace!
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LFF listeners can book a time with Loulabelle to discuss your itinerary ideas and arrangements. Just head to the LFF website: www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
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Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
This episode is coming to you from Paris! Ouuuuiiiii!
I have escaped Melbourne and headed to my happy place, but before my departure last week I chatted to my dear friend, author, performer, tap dancer and long time Cannes Film Festival journalist Ruby Boukabou.
2025 is the 78th festival in Cannes where Ruby and I will meet up, but even though this is my second time attending the festival, I needed this chat with Ruby to explain many of the details of the festival including the types of awards and some of the stuff we can look forward to both in Cannes and coming up in Paris. It was wonderful to reminisce about the fun of Cannes and the South of France in previous times too! What's not to love about memories of beach club days in Nice, hanging out in the old town of Cannes or even the time we snagged tix to strut the red carpet with French movie royalty!
Tune in to hear all the fun and fabulousness of this iconic event in such a magical French region! Come and escape to France with us xx
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Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I am about to return to Burgundy for my third visit there and I can't wait! The region is wonderful to immerse in with wonderful food, scenery and amazing wines!
On my last time in Dijon I met the wonderful Emeline Pin whose business Vino Dilectio runs tasting workshops showcasing the various wines of her region. I attended a cheese and wine pairing workshop and I loved every minute of it.
Emeline and I chatted about the various things tourists could do in Dijon and Burgundy/Bourgogne, such as visit local villages, explore ancient castles, taste mustards and cheese, wander through vineyards. Dijon and Burgundy has great weather for travelling being not too hot, but be very thoughtful about what time of year to visit not just for the weather but also consider the harvest timing (it varies each year through August-September depending on the ripening of the grapes). During the harvest some activities may be postponed due to the important work that needs to take place.
This chat with Emeline provided more than just some expert opinion on wine, Emeline chatted about places to visit throughout France, tips for the best types of restaurants to go to as well as ideas for visiting Burgundy as only a local can give.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Tune in to hear Loulabelle chat to Shannon Pratuch:
Shannon Pratuch has moved to France from the US many years ago. She now shares her world which is most often in Paris or Brittany and shared with her gorgeous French bulldogs, through her website as well as her ThisFrench.Life YouTube and Instagram accounts.
Last year Shannon compiled a series to take us virtually through many châteaux in the Loire and close to Paris, as well as a separate series highlighting the noël celebrations in châteaux around various regions of France.
Shannon is a wealth of knowledge about many experiences that we crave as tourists to France, as well as giving us an insight into what we can do when we're visiting to help us feel as though we're living like a local. She has so many "under-the-radar" suggestions that don't pop out of the guidebooks often so she's well worth listening to! As I'm heading to France soon I've used Shannon's suggestions as my travel plan!
Come and escape to France with us. xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Each year one of the highlights of the French calendar in Australia is the Alliance Française French Film Festival which commences with the gala opening night of the 36th festival at Melbourne's Astor Theatre on March 5th. But it is not only here in Oz that French film is popular. 2024 was a record breaking year for attendance at the cinema in France, with a higher percentage of the population going to see a film there than in the US.
I loved chatting to the fabulous people at the Alliance Française who are responsible for putting together the festival this year:
Frédéric Alliod - AFFFF25 CEO & Artistic Director
Marie-Hélène Predhom - Alliance Française Melbourne General Manager
Sara Harrington - Alliance Française Event Manager
French cinema is so much more than a cliché... it's quirky, fun & intelligent. Generally French films have a wonderful depth and the 42 films in this year's AFFFF25 are no exception! There are more than 5,500 screenings across the country in the 2025 festival with regional towns now benefitting from some AFFFF25 action!
Go to the LFF website for the links to the movies mentioned in this podcast chat, or just tune into to our great discussion about French film culture.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Maria Tawk made the decision to study in France a few years ago and moved from Lebanon to university in Aix-en-Provence. From dreaming as a child with her best friend about one day being in Paris together, to now living a beautiful life in Provence, Maria feels like every day she is living out the life she had only seen before in movies.
It was lovely to chat to a fellow Francophile, who seems to now be where she has felt she always belonged, a place that feeds her soul. We chatted about the type of travel that many people crave now... the ability to reset and travel slowly, rather than ticking the travel boxes of the main tourist sites. Everyone wants to visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre or if travelling regionally, to see the lavender in the south of France for example. But to immerse in slow travel and connect with a place is very special. As I often say: allow the time and space for the magic to happen during your travel adventure.
Maria and I chatted about our perspectives of slow travel... go to a place once and you will see it. Go to a place twice and you will feel it. If you get to go three or more times you will start to know the place from within, drink its wine, eat its food, talk to its people, spend the night under its sky... then that is the luckiest of all.
Come and escape to France momentarily with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
This episode is the first in Season Six of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast with me (Lou) chatting to Alex Ganipeau from The French Hack.
After having many Francophiles get in touch with me about their upcoming intended travel to France, we thought it a good opportunity to chat about our experiences of planning trips to France in recent years but also plans for each of us with our intended trips coming up in 2025.
With Alex being French, there is a different experience to me, as I travel as a tourist albeit a tourist with extensive experience traveling in France. For Alex I imagine all her friends and family want to see her! But apparently even for French ex-pats living elsewhere, they want to return to France and explore just as us foreign tourists.
So the tips we touched on in this episode:
- who is coming on your trip? (just me/ me & girlfriends/ me & my husband/ me & family including kids)
- consider the ages and capacity of your attendees. This will impact your choices for the type of accommodation (eg: toddlers who many need a nap) or your mode of travel.
what region is on the wish list? Are there particular things some attendees have on their not-to-be-missed list?
what is the weather preference of the participants? I personally happen to dislike excessively hot weather, so I'll head to the south of France further away from the summer months. Weather preference is important when deciding on the region and time of year to visit.
*luggage tips for road-trips and safety
I usually work out 1. what region I am going to be in and simultaneously 2. ascertain what sort of transport will be required for 3. the amount of participants and their capacities. I don't lock in anything until these three things are clearly sorted! Each thing can impact the other.
After the transport and region is sorted I divide the planning into 3 separate sections:
1. accommodation
2. activities
3. the boring but essential stuff (including but not limited to - check your passport is valid and has at least 6 months left on it after your return from your trip/ check visa requirements/ insurance/ finance including currency cards or banking/ medical check ups before travel and plan medication requirements)
But mainly the most important thing is to plan ahead to allow time for the magic to happen. Without good prior planning the travel experience can be very stressful, but conversely with an itinerary that is too tightly planned with a rushed and full schedule, the possibility for magical moments will be severely diminished. Allow space in the itinerary for spontaneity. Immerse in SLOW TRAVEL!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Ma belle amie Claudine Hemingway has so much knowledge of the history of Paris, she also lives just a few minutes walk from Notre Dame, so it was fascinating to chat with her about all the goings-on for the opening of the iconic cathedral in December.
In this petit papotage we discussed the cathedral's renovation, the before & after differences, how to plan your visit to the newly opened Notre Dame as well as the impact on Paris and the world of being able to again access such an important place for people of faith as well as lovers of history, architecture and France in general.
The new Loulabelle's FrancoFiles 2025 Diary mentioned in this episode can be accessed via the following link: https://loulabellesfrancofiles.com/shop/
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Annie Smithers is a celebrated French chef in Australia who has achieved a wonderful work life balance living in the country French style, growing her own produce from paddock to plate! Starting out in the early 80s in the kitchens of the famed Aussie restauranteur Stephanie Alexander, Annie has an amazing knowledge of French cooking, with its intricate techniques and traditional dishes.
I love Annie's passion for working with the terroir when making up a menu. I also adored chatting with her about the history of food in France as well as nattering on with our observations of the evolution French life and how we connect with it here in Australia too. She has a wealth of knowledge, telling me all about particular breeds of chickens, about how the power of food creates memories, about various regional French dishes and cooking techniques including fabulous French sauce-work, about the temptation to buy a château on Instagram, just discussing the evolution of a quieter French life. For Annie's French way of life it is all about the French food that brings people together!
Tune into to escape to France and share the joy with us.
**Note this episode was recorded onsite at Annie's home at Babbington Park. Patience with the sound will be required momentarily at the start, with the regular high Loulabelle's sound quality returning after the first few minutes.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
A few years ago I chatted to Kate Veach on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast and since then (like a number of guests!) she has become a beautiful friend. I stayed with her and her husband Nathan recently in Burgundy which was such a wonderful time and our stay with her absolutely illustrated why we are now lovely friends. Kate and Nathan have become part of their local community in Lucenay-L'Eveque with artist events, aperitif sessions in the village square and more important that anything, wonderful friendships that will be life long.
Kate has an amazing knowledge of her local area. I have connected with her on previous trips but this time was on her actual home turf and she didn't hold back! We experienced everything wonderful that Bourgogne has to offer. Kate asked before my friend Trudy and I arrived, what we'd like to do and lucky for us, Kate knows all there is to know about finding great brocante which is exactly what we wanted! We visited the Beaune market as well as other brocante spots nearby, we meandered through Burgundian villages and towns, we had food and wine experiences I never expected, we were accepted and wrapped up with warmth by the locals and we enjoyed amazing cooking and hospitality in the cosy country home of Kate and Nathan.
Tune in to hear the wonderful tips if you're planning a trip to Burgundy, but even if you just want to imagine a day in France and escape momentarily.
Link to The Paris Plan as mentioned in this episode on the LFF website
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
It's getting to that time of year when Christmas is on our minds, although I'm a little obsessed about all things Chrissy all year round! So when I had the chance to chat to Lucie Brocard and Anne-Sophie Pink about the Alliance Française Melbourne's upcoming Marché de Noël, I jumped at the opportunity!
Lucie is the Cultural Events Manager and has done an amazing job with the AF Christmas Market being held at the Abbottsford Convent on the weekend of Saturday 30 November & Sunday 1 December.
For Loulabelle's listeners who are Australian residents, there is a family pass to be won to this Marché de Noël... just make sure you are a subscriber to the Loulabelle's free newsletter and the winner will be randomly drawn from the subscribers and notified via email on 26 November. (see below for the T&Cs for this giveaway).
Anne-Sophie is the Director of Studies so is coordinating all the Education programs at Alliance Français Melbourne from pre-school up to advanced adult levels.
As well as hearing about upcoming up events and what's going on for learning French at AF Melb, I loved chatting to both Lucie and Anne-Sophie about their stories of growing up in France, how they came to be in Australia and then also sharing our experiences of travel, food, culture and life in France.
Terms & Conditions for the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles AF Marché de Noël giveaway:
- Win 1x Family pass (two adults and two children) for the Alliance Française Xmas Market taking place at Abbotsford Convent on Saturday 30 November & Sunday 1 December, 2024.
- Entry is open to Australian residents only.
- Giveaway commences 17/11/2024 and closes on 25/11/2024.
- The winner will be randomly selected from subscribers to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles free newsletter.
- Prize is not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash.
- The winner will be notified via email and will receive their ticket via email.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Nadège Alex knows Paris inside and out! After growing up in the Champagne region, she moved to the French capital in her early twenties and fell in love with the city. She is now a travel planner and assists travellers from around the world to put together their itineraries for their Paris visit.
Chatting to Nadège was like having a conversation with an old friend. She gave me tips of places to photograph the Eiffel Tower and lots of little tips for visits to Paris. We spoke about her fave spots in the city and also her thoughts on lots of the regions of France as well, as she has travelled to almost all of them! It was wonderful to chat to a kindred spirit with a similar obsession as me with history and all the fabulousness that France has to offer.
For the details related to the Château Mas de Pradié event on December 8th mentioned in this episode, head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website to the blogpost for this episode 170.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Kyong Millar has been having a love affair with France for ages, which prompted a purchase of a wonderful village home, 500 year old Maison de Frédéric in the south of France near Avignon and Uzès, in the beautiful Provence region.
What followed was an amazing experience which was more than Kyong and her husband expected at the outset, but the end result is better than anything they could have imagined.
Kyong takes us through her story including how they found their home, what criteria was on the list of must-haves, how the renovations progressed, how she found items to furnish with her eye for gorgeous French styling and now what kind of life they experience when they're in their idyllic corner of France.
I have been following Kyong's @maisondefrederic on Instagram for years and have loved following her journey. Now I think I need to take the next step to visit her beautiful Maison de Frédéric, which Kyong describes as a "vessel for memories" to make some lifetime memories there of my own.
Click through to the LFF website for links and further details from this episode.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Daniel Alexander is an Australian Fashion Designer now living in Paris. Chatting to him after his second Paris Fashion Week show, I was fascinated to hear about his passion for fashion, the things that inspire him and how he hopes to inspire the next generation of designers.
From a young age in Brisbane Australia, Daniel was making clothes out of his mother's drapes (a la Sound of Music!) and he continued to work hard to pursue a career that has taken him to live around the world and now in Paris. Even though Daniel lives in a world where it is normal to consider showing his collection at a venue like the Ritz Paris, something most of us can only dream of, he is wonderfully grounded and still full of the Aussie spirit that embodies hard work and determination.
I met up with Daniel when I was recently in Paris and reconnecting for our podcast chat was such a delight. Whether you are a Francophile, perhaps a devotee to fashion or you're just interested in the life stories of others, tune into listen to Daniel's chat with Loulabelle and "watch this space" for what is coming up next for Daniel Alexander!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Recently I spent a couple of months in France, road-tripping through gorgeous historic villages, passing majestic châteaux, immersing in village markets bursting with brocante and eating my way through the special dishes from a variety of regions! This podcast episode follows my journey with my friend Trudy Walker as we travelled from Normandy westwards, to a couple of plus-beaux-villages-de-France in the Pays de la Loire, then turned back to the east and headed to Burgundy before going through the Champagne region on the way back to Paris.
Tune in to hear Trudy and I chat about the pockets of magic we discovered, the adventures and special events we booked, like a motorbike and side-car trip through the vines of Burgundy. We discussed staying with locals as well as times when we stayed in airbnbs or chambre d'hôtes. We also share some great tips for planning or survivng a French roadtrip!
Join us for lots of laughs and beautiful recollections of a roadtrip that has created some marvellous lifetime memories. If you're wanting assistance for planning your own French roadtrip, book an hour with Loulabelle wherever you are in the world via the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Friend of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast, Ruby Boukabou has a new project working with French director Clément Reboussin, The Paris Plan!
Whenever I spend time hanging out with Ruby in France we have so much fun with loads of original, sometimes classic, must see and sometimes quirky, out of the box things to do!
For anyone planning a trip to Paris, potentially for residents living in the French capital or perhaps for those elsewhere around the world who just want to stay connected to what's going on, The Paris Plan is for you!
Tune into this podcast chat to hear more detail about The Paris Plan and head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for all the links for how to follow The Paris Plan on your socials.
There are some suggestions on The Paris Plan which are evergreen and can be done anytime, with other events that are a specific agenda for the upcoming week. There are touristy things to do weekly as well as local stuff, with special occasions sometimes coming up, like this week's harvest at the Montmartre vineyard!
After listening, head to the LFF website for more info.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I have just returned from 2 months in France, road tripping through various French regions and loads of plus-beaux-villages. Regular listeners to the podcast will know how much I love a road trip! Every chance I get I will take off from Australia and drive around France!
The first road trip I took this time was with my husband Paul across Normandy and Brittany, with the second road trip through more of Normandy, the Pay de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Burgundy and the Champagne region with a dear friend Trudy.
In this episode I outline a number of tips. How can we allow for the magic to happen, but still be well planned enough to enjoy ourselves without stress and pack in the fun? I'll give ideas for car considerations, planning time frames, accommodation research considerations and tips for how to enjoy regional France in the best way possible.
The extra little oooh and aaaah moments with squeals of delight can't always be planned however. I regularly recommend to get off the freeways and take the back roads. The little places sometimes found along the way can be the difference between an exceptional vacation and one that is probably quite lovely, but only what you've planned for... I don't think anyone can plan for the magic to happen, especially in France.
For all the links for this episode, head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website to blogpost number 165.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Currently I am in France! I have escaped the Aussie winter and returned to my fave destination! This time however, my husband Paul and I decided to couple our visit to Paris and other regions of France, with a stay with some dear friends who live near Prague.
There were some unexpected issues we encountered, such as the fact that our internal European flight weighed every single carry on bag before boarding which rarely happens in Australia! After a walk of shame to the overweight baggage desk and many euros later, we were fine to board but it was an issue we hadn't planned for. It was also frustrating as we had plenty of weight allowance in our checked luggage, so we were kicking ourselves for not considering the problem prior to getting to the airport for the internal European flight... we were still in long-haul Aussie-Europe mode! We did not make the same mistake on our internal european flight returning back to Paris!
It is also worth noting that not all countries in the EU use the Euro and the exchange rate is not necessarily the best once already in Europe, so a bit of research prior to departure is a must!
We adored Prague. Every building is food for a Francophile soul, even though not in France. Our friends live in Plzen about an hour from Prague, where Pilsner Beer is made. It is an amazing town with parts going back many centuries, then other parts of the city are almost stuck in the communist period. I had my hair done in Plzen w2hich was a real eye opener for the w2ay regular life takes place. I was transfixed by the difference to how we operate in Australia, or in France for that matter. We visited an ancient castle, did a beer tour in Plzen, ate incredible Czech food, attended a candlelight concert in Prague and met some gorgeous locals with our beautiful friends. I think that was the most special thing, meeting wonderful Czechs including our friends' adopted grandma, Ivcha.
In the middle of our Czech week, we popped down to Vienna for a couple of days to attend a Mozart concert at the Musikverein, the Golden Hall. Everywhere is so close in Europe so heading to another country to fulfil a lifelong wish is not so much of a problem.
Tune in to hear some of the problems we faced as well as some great tips when going to a new city for a brief visit.
**Coming up soon will be a number of episodes about the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles current road trip through France with a number of different guests.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Alex Lalak is an Aussie born and bred travel journalist who now calls France home. Growing up in Sydney, Alex was gifted many cook books, many of them French and also studied French at school. A part of her always thought she would live there one day. After a few trips to France over the years, Alex moved overseas in her thirties, first to New York, then London and eventually Paris. She then met Pierre, her now husband and that changed everything!
When Alex first moved to Paris, she had only a couple of friends there who both left to live elsewhere not long after. Alex realised she needed connections and made a lot of friends through ex-pat groups and through friends of friends. There was a year of exploring Paris before meeting Pierre and since then they have lived elsewhere in France in Burgundy and now in Provence.
Alex’s story of discovering herself is fascinating to me. Her chat about making a vie français and experiencing some of life’s most significant events such as having a baby in France, getting married and buying a house now in Provence, is the stuff that many peoples’ dreams are made of! Now living a gorgeously French rural life, Alex described her local market days, the fresh produce, the local dishes and the different style of living compared to Paris or even Australia. She gave us wonderful tips for when visiting the Pont du Gard and painted a beautiful picture for our imaginations of the balmy Provençal days. But the best part? When asked to describe what a perfect French day would look like for her, Alex was able to chat about her day that happened only yesterday, because she is actually right now living her perfect French life!
Tune in to escape to France with us momentarily.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Elaine Lewis was always interested in books. So when she made the decision to move from Australia to Paris to open a book store on the left bank of the Seine, her family gave full support. Other opinions were mixed, but regardless she moved to France and spent quite a long time preparing for the opening of her Australian book shop.
There were challenges along the way, such as deciphering info being rattled off to her over the phone! But after months putting together a dossier to provide to the French consulate Elaine attained her Visa of Longue Durée. Elaine ended up with a very individual style store with wrought iron shelves, oak panelling and mood lighting. It sounds like the sort of place that would feed a book-lovers soul. She highlighted books in both French and English, anything that promoted Australia that Elaine thought the French would appreciate, some with Aboriginal designs.
Competition with the online book stores became increasingly difficult. Regardless of this Eliane continued along happily until she received a quite dramatic letter enacting a very old law that caused her to close. Over 100 local university professors signed a petition which was sent to the president, but although the ban was then overturned, Elaine had made the decision to close the doors.
Tune into a fascinating story about a life navigating a part of France that many of us don't ordinarily see. Elaine's connection to France stretches much further that the book store... she reminds us that dreaming is important and making plans to follow our dreams can fulfil both our own souls as well as inspire others.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Danielle Overton Chambers was born in London but moved to Saint Malo as a small child to live with her great-grandparents and after a life around the world she has returned to her favourite place.
Saint Malo has fascinating history from the 1950s post war to the pirates of the 15th-18th centuries and even earlier with monks and religious living a hermits life there in the 6th century, before they decided to build a cathedral!
From a medieval cathedral town, Saint Malo became a very rich port as the home of trade for hundreds of years, profiting especially from the opening up of the New World.
Chatting to my friend Danielle was fascinating as she is so knowledgeable about the history as well as what to do in Saint Malo right now. I will be returning in August and I'm so looking forward to the amazing seafood, the beautiful stone village, the beautiful welcoming people and the tourist stuff to do!
To find out more about the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
What Claudine Hemingway doesn't know about the history of Paris probably isn't worth knowing! But as I plan to take off to France for the European autumn, arriving somewhere amongst the shenanigans of the Olympics and the Paralympics, I am picking her brain for what to expect in the Paris of today!
It is exactly 100 years since Paris last hosted the Olympic Games, and what an amazing amount of history has occurred since then in the French capital. Paris is quite changed since 1924 and it will be exciting to see how she glams up for the world in this modern era. I'm looking forward to a wonderful new concept literally being floated in the Olympic Summer Games Opening Ceremony. For the first time in the history of the Jeux Olympiques this will not take place in a stadium. Paris 2024 is doing away with the old and bringing in the new, with the Opening Ceremony being held on the Seine including the parade of athletes on boats for each national delegation.
Now whilst floating athletes to kick start a Games is a first and I'm certain there will be loads more to marvel at as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will have be the largest Opening Ceremony in Games history, I really wanted to know from Claudine, what will the city be like for the residents and visitors over the next couple of months whilst all this is going on!
Tune in to hear all the details and transport yourself away to Paris momentarily.
For details and to express interest in the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, contact janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
In 2023 my dear uncle Carl Putt and his best mate Paul Steinfort embarked on a life changing experience walking Le Puy Camino, a huge pilgrimage trail through France.
I have obviously known my Uncle Carl my whole life and with a shared love of France it was wonderful to share this chat with him. I have known Paul mainly as Carl's best mate through my life (but just prior to COVID I took on the role as President of a large football club in suburban Melbourne for a number of years, with Paul having the capacity and experience to be my mentor through that time.) It was just lovely to chat with both Paul and Carl about this extraordinary experience they shared in France and I was thrilled to meet up over in Cahors, France to witness their last night.
The walk they did is what's known as "Inn to Inn" walking, that is hotel to hotel. Most days they walked about 20 kms, but then as I discovered some days they walked more when they got lost! We chatted about the preparation required including training, equipment and the impact on participants' health and wellbeing. With both men being aged 75 at the time of this walk, I ascertained that taking on a challenge of this kind is not out of anyone's reach, as long as adequate medical advice is sought prior and the required steps to ensure readiness are undertaken.
I loved how this experience has now spawned the idea of doing something similar with grandchildren. That experience will potentially provide memories for those grandchildren completing a similar trek now, to carry through their lives and possibly then do with their own grandchildren in the future whilst remembering the same experience with their grandfather. A wonderful ongoing family connection through the generations.
Paul identified the deepness of the connection to France for our family and he was very happy to immerse in that with his friend, my Uncle Carl. This connection has brought a closeness of our extended family, and may possibly bring about more walks such as this for us all in the future.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
A short while ago I chatted at episode 152 with Clare Needham, Curator at the Bendigo Art Gallery all about their amazing current exhibition Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925. This exhibition finishes on Bastille Day next week, so I popped back yesterday to see all the fabulousness there with friends who are just as crazy about all things French as I am! I had a petit chat with mes amies afterwards which is included in this episode.
The Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925 exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the lively and picturesque streets of historic Paris with real footage of life as it was, as well as artworks and even advertising posters, fashion and other artefacts dotted through the gallery. There are seven themed rooms or pathways, which take us through the most iconic parts of Paris. We discovered artisan street signs alongside wonderful posters and maps of Paris as well as fascinating footage of bustling marketplaces and grand boulevards. We wandered virtually through the jardins of Paris, saw some beautiful historic couture, immersed ourselves in artworks depicting life on the banks of the Seine, the Tour Eiffel and the heady atmosphere of bohemian Montmartre with artworks by Toulouse Lautrec and footage of the Can Can.
This exhibition has more than 170 works of art and artisan objects reflecting on a period of great social change, urban development and artistic innovation which shaped the modern Paris that we love today.
The Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925 exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery and the Electric Wonderland light show both end on Bastille Day, 14 July 2024.
If interested in the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email Jane: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
For free tickets to the Loulabelle's champagne soirée in Prahran, Melbourne this Thursday 11 July 2024, head to the LFF website and click the link in the post for episode 158.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Alex Ganipeau is a native of Bordeaux who is now a skilled French teacher residing in Australia with her business The French Hack.
Alex is always a wealth of info for me when I'm planning my next French escape so we thought a chat about her faves from a local perspective would assist the many of us heading to France this year during the Olympics or across the French summer.
Tune in to hear details most tourists wouldn't consider in both Paris and Bordeaux!
If interested in the September 2024 Normandy Retreat as mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I got out from behind my desk in the Loulabelle's recording pod and met Pierrick Boyer in his Prahran Rêverie Café. For someone who has so many accolades and awards, who is always excelling and noted as being at the top of his craft, he is an exceptionally grounded and genuine person. I have spent time in his café before, always a place that is warm and welcoming, filled with French dreams in every dessert and dish served!After growing up in France, Pierrick lived a number of years outside of France and thankfully for us in Melbourne, he eventually ended up making a life here with his family. He has been rewarded too, winning the title of Australian Pastry Chef of the Year. Pierrick is also about to be recognised by the French Ambassador for his work in promoting France to Australians.
Pierrick and I chatted about the importance of dreaming. Most of us dream of all sorts of things: travel, beautiful places, achieving great things... Pierrick talked of being a "doer" and making dreams a reality. We lamented the change in the way kids grow up now, in a period of time when they never seem to have space to sit with their own thoughts... there is always a screen to fill the void. I wonder if without this time to ponder and think, will kids continue to dream big in the future, in the same way as we and generations of the past had the space to do in the past.
Dreaming is something that can't be taught. But Pierrick is definitely showing how hard work and determination can make dreams come true.
If interested in the Normandy Retreat as mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com for details.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Recently I followed with great interest all the excitement of the Cannes Film Festival, which got me reminiscing about when I was there for the 2023 Festival last May with friend to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast Ruby Boukabou. I also loved the chat I had with Ruby back then while we were in Cannes with loads of insights into the local customs, the sights, the weird and the wonderful happenings of the most famous film festival on the planet!
Tune into hear all the insider views on the festival as well as be updated on some exciting stuff to consider if you are heading to Paris this coming French summer!
If interested in the Normandy Retreat this September as mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Melbourne local Catherine Deveny has a career I have followed for decades. She is a writer, a comedian, an inspiration to many and she has provided many a belly cackle for me over the years. She is irreverent, intelligent and loads of fun and I loved unpacking the French angle of her story.
Catherine describes herself as a professional MILF!!! Seriously though, she is the founder of the Gunnas writers retreats and since its inception she has had 10,000 writers or "gunna-be" writers through her workshops. Her retreats have created a community of writers that keep coming back for more!
Catherine has said, "We put obstacles in front of our happiness... they are distraction, procrastination and self-doubt. Satisfaction is what makes us happy, not distraction. There's no effort without error. 80% of success is just turning up." These words inspire me to get up and get going! It's fabulous life advice! We should not postpone joy! We should live our lives with as much joy as possible and I love how Catherine makes this "real" in our chat during this episode.
I often wonder that many women have not been raised to consider their own dreams. Listening to Catherine as we chatted left me really considering how I might live my best life and actually live my dreams...
Tune into hear our chat and maybe consider how to shift from being a "Gunna" to an actual "Do-er".
If interested in the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
English born Kylie Lang has lived all over the world, but it wasn’t until she gave her husband the next choice of where to live, that she even considered a move to France and now she is fully in loooooove with every thing about her new adopted home.
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Kylie now lives in rural France in the Charente department on the border of the Dordogne, 2 hours from Bordeaux. In south-west France, Kylie’s area is known for its sunflowers and is a beautiful part of France (although who am I kidding, all of France is exquisite!)
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We chatted in this episode about the ways ex-pats moving to France can find ways to connect with their community. Kylie suggested something I hadn’t considered before, on moving to her village she joined a line dancing class! It’s a little known fact that the French love line dancing or some might call it formation dancing. When I went to the Bayonne festival a couple of years back there were certain songs where the whole crowd would just break into dance, with everyone seeming to know all the steps! It never occurred to me then that the locals would go to lessons to learn this!
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So Kylie and and I had great chats about the discovery of her new home and her move from the UK, about how she continued her work in her business from France and how she has become part of the local community (even initially with no capacity to speak French!) I loved that Kyle has even ended up in the kitchen peeling spuds and washing dishes at the local fête!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Aujourd'hui I escaped into the real world to get my Frenchy vibes fluttering at the Bendigo Art Gallery, chatting to curator Clare Needham about the current Paris: Impressions of Life exhibition.
This extraordinary exhibition was sourced from the Musée de Carnavalet in the Marais in Paris as well as fashion items from the NGV. Clare took me through all the 7 zones of the exhibition taking me through the story of the history of Paris from that time.
Tune in to hear our petit tour and check out the details on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website.
For details of the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Claudia Stahl is the creator of French inspired fashion brand Jac Cadeaux. Claudia lived in Paris for a number of years after inheriting a love of all things French from her mother. She went for a year and stayed for five years!
Claudia loves the language and the culture but clearly has been affected by the fashion too. Being there for 5 years, she got to learn the language, to meet and make French friends, travel a lot and study the effortlessly chic French women. We chatted about her experiences and it transported me back to France on and off through our chat.
Claudia described her life in Paris in a little apartment where they could hear the bells of Notre Dame in the 5th, over the road from a Tabac. I just floated away with her as she chatted. Hearing about the fashion as well, French women who would not be overly styled, but would wear what they had in their wardrobe but in a way that had a chic-ness not often seen elsewhere. When Claudia came back to Australia she explored this further and created Jac Cadeaux which provides a classic French style wardrobe. The Breton stripe is a staple (I loved hearing the history of the striped tops that have endured from Claudia too) but there is so much more!
For the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles audience, Jac Cadeaux is now offering a 15% discount! Just use the discount code LFF15 at the Jac Cadeaux checkout.
https://jaccadeaux.com/
If interested in the Normandy Retreat as mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com for details.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Ruby Boukabou is an author, performer, tap dancer and Paris resident with whom I have had numerous wonderful French experiences including attending the Cannes Film Festival last year. The films selected for 2024 have now been announced with loads of Aussies set to be gracing the red carpet. (Bonjour Chris Hemsworth & Cate Blanchett!) Ruby and I are particularly impatient for the global premiere of George Miller's new Mad Max movie.
Ruby has been reporting on the famous Cannes Fest for over a decade and this year she and I will be reprising our YouTube program The Cannes Couch and this podcast chat touches on what to expect.
After Cannes, Ruby will be returning to an Olympic crazed Paris! She will also have some performances with another friend to the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles, Wendy Lee Taylor. Ruby and Wendy are performing their cabaret show Parisian Time Step on a péniche on the Seine, in the centre of Paris near the Ile Saint Louis. Just imagine the fairy lights in the trees along the river, with wonderful jazz musos on the barge and French food and wine whilst the show takes you through the music and dance of the Belle Epoque of Paris right up to the current day. Last year the show had rave reviews so I can’t wait to see it this year!
For all the links for this episode including our Cannes Couch project, head to the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles website. Bookings for the Parisian Time Step show and links to purchase Ruby’s books are also on the LFF site at Episode 150.
For details to attend the dreamy Normandy Retreat with Loulabelle this coming September 2024, email: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
April Pett is a breath of fresh air keeping the Frenchy vibes fluttering for many tourists in Paris. She hosts custom tours in Paris, Versailles, Chablis and Champagne and does so with such a lovely vibrant positivity!
Coming to live in Paris from a small town in Canada, April first visited France when she graduated high school and her love affair with the French capital began. After more than a decade living there, she still hasn't lost the wonder in her eyes every time she sees the iconic symbols surrounding her. Wandering around the city is still like an outdoor gallery for her, as April says there is always something new to see or find even after daily walks down particular petites rues! Her main rule though, is to "always look up". So many people miss what is right in front of them by burying their heads in a map or phone, or only looking at ground level. Always look up!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Sonja Bajic is a map illustrator living in Paris, specialising in personalised maps. We use maps so often in our lives and Sonja connects with people to tell their story on a map of their own. Sometimes she will create a map with images or pictures of a family's holiday and place it on a map for them to display at home, or perhaps an individual might have their life in two worlds, such as I would hope to have with France and Australia! Sonja can represent that life on a personalised map.
I adore losing myself in a map, examining all the streets and reminiscing about where I've been before. It was fascinating to hear of Sonja's projects including a massive table for a tourist company in Paris with a map across the whole surface displaying the arrondissements, food and main attractions of Paris. I imagine it would have been a beautiful piece of functional art. Together with Sonja's knowledge and passion for maps, I loved hearing all about her personal Paris story.
Come and escape to France with us...
For more information about the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, contact Jane Hiscock janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Easter for me has always been a time for gathering with family, for eating copious amounts of chocolate, for egg hunts and as a child for going to church with my grandmothers. This is the same in much of the English speaking world, but what goes on for Easter in France?
In this episode I chatted to Alex Ganipeau from the French Hack about her memories of Pâques when she grew up in France. There are some traditions that are particular to France, such as the Cloches de Pâques, the Easter bells which depart France on Good Friday and fly to Rome to be blessed by the Pope, then returning to France on Easter Sunday dropping Easter eggs, candy and presents for all the children. The church bells all ring out in every French village on Easter Sunday and the kids start looking for eggs! Alex and I also talk about the pagan origins of the Easter traditions and other special ways it is celebrated in France.
For tourists travelling through France across Easter, it is important to note that Good Friday is not a public holiday in France but Easter Monday is.
For anyone interested in the Normandy Retreat as mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com for details.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Kate Hill has lived an extraordinary life. As a young woman she loved to travel and cook and ended up buying a barge and travelling the regional canals of France until she found her little home which back then was a ruin on the bank of the canal. So she parked the barge at the bottom of the garden gate and continued to live on the barge for her first 25 years in the area of Gascony, until the ruined 300 year old building was eventually renovated 10 years ago for her to live in. Early on in the 35 years in total that Kate has lived there, she built her little dream kitchen and learned how to butcher and create charcuterie as well as then teach others to do the same.
Kate published an introductory book about how she ended up living this wonderful life, “A culinary journey in Gascony” which was published in 1995 (and is still in print!) She then wrote another book which contains everything one might need to know about Cassoulet, followed by a series of 12 seasonal monthly books, a compilation of her essays and recipes titled “A Gascon Year”. Through substack, Kate now publishes her memoir about how she found France, “Finding France: a memoir in small bites” is now released on a serialised basis.
I loved chatting to Kate about the slowness of her life, not that she is slow in her actions, but how life in her rural part of France has forced her to slow down and live a deep immersive life in her kitchen and potager in Gascony. Locals in her area kept explaining something to Kate that sums up their philosophy on how to prioritise the important things in life: “prendre le temps de prendre le temps” (take the time to take the time). In other words, they do things such as stopping on a Sunday to share a meal with family or friends, they stop and enjoy the smaller but precious parts of life. Kate grew into this way of life, she learned how to work a potager, how to raise chickens, how to be connected to her soul.
Now in her 70s, Kate is excited about more changes and choices she is making in her life. She is focusing on how to start anew at any age and how to live a connected country French life. This she calls “champêtre”, to be country. As part of this she will continue to host residencies at her Relais de Camont, but she will also have the time to create more herself, with her writing, her potager, cooking in her kitchen. The focus on what is really important to her is a recommendation for a more connected life for us all.
For information about the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email
janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Dianne McHugh loves walking through Paris. So much so that she has created 20 walks, one for each arrondissement of the French capital. Dianne has her faves, but one thing she often looks for when planning a walk, is a patch of green on the map. Tha parks and recreational spaces of Paris are food for a Francophile soul! Dianne also likes to make time to have a break and read a book somewhere as well as take in at least one museum or gallery a day.
During her last visit to Paris Dianne tried to squeeze all her 20 walks into a 14 day stay, but just fell short. Always leave a reason to return I say! So now Dianne will go back for 4 weeks and complete the walk for each arrondissement. I'll be doing one of her walks when I next return to Paris too!
Tune into feel as though you have had a momentary sojourn to Paris with us...
If interested in the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com for details.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Bruce and Lisa live near Montreal in Canada and whilst Bruce's French father may have influenced his connection to France, it wasn't until a 20th wedding anniversary vacay that together they discovered their mutual love of France. When visiting the Dordogne, they stayed in Sarlat -la-Canéda and on the last day of their trip they found that an apartment on the top floor of the historic building they were staying in was for sale! And that was it! The journey of French property ownership and renovation began!
I've always imagined moving to an historic village and a stone cottage or apartment with my romantic-rose-coloured glasses on. So when Bruce and Lisa described some of the challenges they worked through, I began to realise the enormity of such a decision to purchase your very own piece of French history. Issues such as getting rid of the refuse, taking it all down a tiny spiral staircase, or having ordinary items such as a sofa delivered when living in a village that is for pedestrian traffic only... Just a couple of important considerations before purchasing.
Luckily Bruce and Lisa have loved every step of their journey which is not finished yet. They've enjoyed the DIY aspect, but they also retrospectively appreciate the various glitches that popped up along the way. These are the situations that make up the journey which for them is the fabric of their beautiful French story.
To find out more details of the Normandy Retreat as mentioned in this episode, email Jane Hiscock at Château du Jonquay janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Claudine Hemingway is an American living in France. She has an amazing family history in Paris, with her grandparents and of course Ernest Hemingway having a significant impact on her perspective of the French capital. I have spoken with her a number of times on the podcast before and met in Paris, most recently going to one of her faves L’Avant Comptoir in Saint Germain in the Paris summer of 2023.
Claudine is an amazing story teller and historian. She has an incredible knowledge of the Louvre, taking tours there often, as well as many other places in Paris. Her depth of understanding about the history of Paris provides her tour clients with an authentic experience tailored to their needs.
I loved chatting with Claudine about her life in Paris, the upcoming Olympics, the re-opening of the Louvre planned for this December, plus her faves to visit in Paris including the incredible place she and I caught up at in the Latin Quarter last year.
If you ‘re planning on heading to Paris, tune into this chat for loads of tips, but even if Paris is a distant thought for you, I found my chat with Claudine was a wonderful petit virtual escape to Paris!
For details of the upcoming 2024 Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Mandy Murphy and Willo Renehan made a decision after Brexit to buy property in France. What eventuated though, was more than they imagined! After many years of renos, inspired by Dick & Angel on Escape to the Château, they now have a wonderful maison in the middle of the town of Saumur in the Loire Valley.
La Maison Trumeau is an 1850s French period home, walking distance to restaurants and shops and not far from chateaux and wineries in the Loire region. When Mandy and Willo were searching for such a find, they specifically wanted a wine region in France (driving distance from the UK). This is not just about the wine however. I hadn't considered a perspective that Willo made clear: if buying in a wine region, there will be a number of boxes ticked or checked just because these things go hand in hand with a wine making region. Good weather is needed for the grapes to grow = check! A wine region encourages a fabulous food and restaurant scene = check! The rolling hills and terroir for wine making also provide a gorgeous backdrop for meandering around the French countryside = check! Together with all of that, the Loire has a châteaux around almost every corner! What's not to love!
After this chat with Mandy and Willo, I can see how they team all of that Loire Valley loveliness with the French style living at La Maison Trumeau which has been fully renovated and restyled to it's original French elegance including antique furniture, vintage style furnishings and plenty of space to relax and unwind. It's definitely on my list of future plans for visits to the Loire Valley and France!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Alex Ganipeau runs French language school "The French Hack" in Melbourne Australia and is our go to Frenchy to chat with about loads of things to help demystify French traditions, customs and culture!
In today's chat we hear about the recently celebrated traditions of l'Ephinanie and Chandeleur, plus the ways Valentine's Day is recognised both now and historically in France.
Alex tells us about the things that especially connect her to France and feeds my Francophile heart through her words. We discover that it's not necessarily the stuff and things we collect in life that are important, but rather the moments shared with those we love and times we spend in certain places that connect us to our soul.
Come and escape momentarily to France with us.
To contact Jane Hiscock regarding the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode email:
janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Do you love having French vintage bits and bobs all around to remind you of travels in France? Or do you just enjoy a gorgeous French rustic or provincial style to your home? Perhaps you have just a teeny addiction to brocante shopping... Oui? Yep, me too. If like me, you consider packing light for your vacances en France to squeeze in the French fabulousness found at some brocante markets, then this chat is for you. Jane Hotblack owns French vintage ware business "Vintage Etc" and sources pieces from France to sell in Australia. I love the idea of months on end seeking out vintage paintings, kitchen items, furniture or antiques. But for the professional vintage sellers, it's not all swanning around vide-greniers in regional France. This is a serious and competitive business!
Tune in to hear Jane's tips on where to go for the best brocante and how to get it back to your home country without breaking the bank!
If you're interested in this September's Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email Jane Hiscock for further details: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Andrew Prior, host of Fabulously Delicious, the French Food Podcast has now released a book!
Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide To The World’s Most Delicious City is Andrew’s first book and is about so much more than just the best restaurants in Paris.
Andrew has visited and sampled the wares of, or dined in,
all 379 venues in the book! You will find recommendations for boulangeries,
patisseries, cafes, bistros, bouillons, restaurants and wine bars. But also
gourmet food stores, fromageries, department stores, and so much more.
Chatting with Andrew in this Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles podcast episode, we touch on loads in his book but also get some of his secret tips, such as how to get a more affordable Michelin starred meal!
Perfectly timed for the big year for Paris with the 2024 Olympics and
Paralympic games coming up, this podcast episode is a must for anyone planning a
trip to Paris this year or just for lovers of French food who want to join in for
a laugh and natter with us, and a petit escape to France momentarily!
If you're interested in joining Loulabelle for the Normandy Retreat in September 2024 as mentioned in this episode, email Jane Hiscock: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
The Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles has an exciting 2024 planned. Grab your beverage of choice and sit back to escape virtually to France on a road trip across the north of France through Normandy and Brittany! This is the topic of the first French Road Trip E-guide to be released soon in the new LFF online store. Also hear my chat about the wonderful intimate, boutique Normandy Retreat planned for September where listeners can join me for one of a kind experiences that will fill a Francophile soul! Even just dreaming about them will keep your Frenchy vibes fluttering! Guests will stay at Château du Jonquay and will be involved in collaborations with a Molly J Wilk cooking class (pastry chef extraordinaire) and a Michelin star chef lesson in the beautiful château kitchens as well as loads more that Normandy offers which only a local could uncover.
If a Normandy Retreat is what you need, email Jane Hiscock: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
If a dreamy virtual escape to France is more your style, then tune in now and join me on my magical French road trip xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Joyeux Noel and Bonne année!
Currently I am sending you wishes for a gorgeous Chrissy from my home in the Aussie bush surrounded by the sounds of kookaburras in summer, with kangaroos joining us for our morning coffee and returning for apéro in the late arvo! A far cry from last year when I was in France on my wonderful Noël roadtrip through the French alps and the Alsace region.
I have a number of tips for travelling in the type of weather that can be expected in France in December as it is winter! This is the time of mulled wine, big coats, warm open fires and rugging up with fabulously filling French comfort food!
Tune in to hear Loulabelle's top 5 tips for travelling during the Christmassy period in mountainous France. Really practical advice about what to pack or leave behind. I'll also take you through a number of divine villages I either stayed in or visited briefly in the Beaujolais and Alsace regions in the lead up to Noël as well as the excitement of Christmas in Paris!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Julia Fulford Kirby lives in a most magical place, Château Mas de Pradié in Foissac in the Aveyron region of southwest France. I first saw her story on the Escape to the Château DIY show and then chatted to her on the podcast in January 2021, but nothing prepared me for the magic before me when I visited her home in the hot summer of 2022. Mas de Pradié took my breath away. Julia has done so much work over her time there but she has made every effort not to ruin the spirit that made her fall in love with the "mas" in the first place. The majority of the work that has taken place is invisible, but necessary for lining in the 21st century. Many châteaux I have seen renovated look like a modern place within an historic shell. Julia seems to have been able to make modern conveniences such as bathrooms, look as if they have always been there! The renovations are so sympathetic to the history of the property.
Living in and renovating an historic property is not for everyone, but luckily for the rest of us, there are brave and adventurous people like Julia who are willing to live a life dedicated to restoring these châteaux that feed the souls of the rest of us Francophiles. I firmly believe that without people willing to take that leap and take on a life of non-stop hard labour, the historic buildings of France may in 50, 100 or maybe 200 years be a pile of ruins. It seems that in some local communities there aren't the people willing or with the funds to get the required work completed. I don't have the capacity to go to France and restore a château myself, but I'm very happy to go there and enjoy the work of people like Julia!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Texan native Molly Wilkinson moved to France to follow her dream of French pastry cooking and baking a number of years ago and since then has met her fiancé, moved to Versailles and now has an amazing business bringing the opportunity to all of us to cook like a French pastry chef, with her online French pastry cooking school.
Molly is so down to earth, patient and accessible. Perfect attributes for a teacher! She has a fabulous cooking space in Versailles which is where all the magic happens online, but also in person for anyone heading to the town.
Recently there is another exciting project that Molly is now sharing with us all. Molly has collaborated with author Mandie Davis and illustrator Pete Williamson and the result is a kids' book that is bright, colourful and fun, as it tells the story of Molly in Versailles! As well as having some of Molly's recipes in the book, it is a way to open up iconic places like Versailles to children. Often the story of historic places can be a bit dry and fact heavy, but this gets kids interested in history by making it fun and accessible.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Rachael Coopes is an author, an actress, a yoga expert, a presenter on beloved kids show Playschool and just an all-round lovely like-minded Francophile. Recently I have been reading her book Paris For Beginners and I absolutely love it! I’m not sure why, but every time I sat down to read it, I needed to pair the reading with a glass of wine! It felt like a celebration each time and a petit escape to France for me.
In her 20s Rach moved to France for a couple of years to study theatre. She describes her time in Paris back then as being on the precipice of the next phase of her life. It is often a stage for many of us where we're about to be what I like to call "full-blown adults". Then last year Rach returned to Paris after the world started to open up post-Covid. Her book gives us an insight into her world and the manner in which Paris has impacted her as a mini-adult in 2004 and then again in 2022. Her experiences resonated with me and brought to the fore my own memories of Paris as I was reading. I’ve often talked about feeling a homesickness for France even though I’ve never lived there. Rach has now finally put a word to that for me: hiraeth, which is a Welsh word which has no direct translation, but it describes a longing, homesickness, yearning and nostalgia for a place. That describes my relationship with France when I am in Australia perfectly!
Rach and I lamented the changes to Paris with globalisation taking hold in France as it does everywhere, but it was wonderful to share with her the things that we were thrilled to see stay the same. Whilst some of the older, authentic, quintessentially French parts of Paris now seem a bit more polished and sparklier, the joie de vivre experienced by visiting France or even chatting about it, remains. As Rachael says, somehow in Paris they manage to take what is ordinary and make it extraordinary... take the simple and turn it into something breathtaking.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Earlier this year I stayed in Normandy with the gorgeous Jane Hiscock in her stunning historic Château du Jonquay. I’m headed back to stay with Jane again in September 2024 and this time you can come too! Jane has put together an amazing itinerary with a range of experiences that only someone with her local knowledge could uncover. I'm so excited about all Jane has planned for this wonderful Normandy Retreat! Tune into this chat to hear more of the fascinating stories of the Normandy region.
For more information on how to join me for a stay at Château du Jonquay including dates, detailed itinerary, prices and inclusions, contact Jane Hiscock: janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.com
If this sounds like what you need, don’t delay, as stays in Jane’s Château du Jonquay have previously sold out in no time!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Earlier this year I nicked off to France for almost 2 months! In the last couple of weeks of the trip, I had some gorgeous girlfriends meet me for a stay in Lyon and the country Burgundy region between Lyon and Dijon. My dear friend Karen Grooby chatted to me on the podcast about the glorious 10 days we spent with friends who have travelled together with me in France a number of times before.
Hear all about our amazing time in Lyon as well as the second half of our trip exploring the country region of Burgundy near the beautiful village of Cuisery. We had incredible food experiences, château visits, brocante finds, historic wonders and loads of fun with darling friends!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Forget Thelma and Louise, this is the story of Simone and Louise heading across the southern regions of France from Bayonne to Provence!
We started our adventures in Paris, then the Basque region, then across in an easterly direction to Cahors, Uzès, the Pont-du-Gard, the tiny village of Mollégès (which we used as a base to visit Eygalières, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, L’Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, Gordes, the Abbey de senanque and Avignon) before heading to the next part of my journey in Lyon.
Head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for more info and details but here are a few details worth considering if you're tihinking of a raodtrip in France:
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Avoid the toll roads. You will find all the nuggets of gorgeousness to fill your soul off the beaten track!
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Don’t over plan! Have the things you definitely don’t want to miss, then keep your schedule open for things suggested by locals, or just stuff that might pop up during your day.
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Take cash for petrol and tolls in case your international cards don’t work. The regional petrol stations off the toll roads are almost never manned and are automated only. Petrol stations on the toll roads are usually fine for purchases as for other stores in France with staff in attendance.
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Have coins for parking. Simone noted how clever the French are for having the same type of parking meters everywhere we went! We worked out how to use it on the first time parking and after a few towns we were explaining it to others like we were the local experts!
If you have any recommendations for holidaying in France, drop me a line to bonjour@loulabellesfrancofiles.com and let me know your best travel tips!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Emily Gaudichon is The Real Emily in Paris on Instagram, she is a supermum to a teenager as well as two pre-schoolers and is constantly working on various projects simultaneously, but somehow she has found time to write a children's book as well!
Emily's book The Parisian ABCs is illustrated by Sarah Vesperini. Emily describes it as a tongue in cheek look at why we love the French, celebrating cliches from A to Z with witty one liners to delight children and adults alike. Emily has a few favourite pages like "G is for grève" which means to go on strike, very common in France!
I loved chatting to her about her favourite parts of the book and getting a little insight into what life with kids is like in Paris. As Emily told me in France they have a different parenting style. In Australia the family's world revolves around the kids. In France the kids fit in more with the parents! But still there are gorgeous regular (and sometimes wonderfully quirky) French cultural norms for kids, such as little nursery rhymes. Emily told me all about what a perfect French day would look like for her kids which apart from scootering through the Louvre it all sounded like wonderful fun to me! (Actually, scootering through the Louvre would be fun too, if not likely un petit peu illegal!)
I'm looking forward to my copy of Emily's new book arriving in the post so I can pore over every page and drift off to Paris momentarily. I highly recommend grabbing a copy so you can do the same!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Noria Letts is a French-Australian singer who performs French songs in Melbourne and Sydney with her band The Parisians. Her style is eclectic and varied, but her description of French gypsy jazz shines through as a specialty for her. Noria has always loved music and singing right from a young age growing up in Burgundy in France. It is something she has shared with her sisters for years and there are now a number of other professional musicians in the family. Noria now shares a little of France with her audience every time she gets up on stage and she shares so much with us in this beautiful chat.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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No 3 The Château is a stunning venue in the Cognac region which hosts many weddings through the warmer months each year, as well as other "experiences", but it has not always been that way.
After developing various properties in the UK, interior designer Julie Berry (aka Jules) decided to take up a challenge of renovating a château in France. She settled on the Cognac area and started a search which resulted in the wonderful find of the château she calls home today. No 3 The Château is surrounded on all sides with miles of cognac vines, and walking distance to the village complete with boulangerie. Even though it was in a state of disrepair, Jules could sense the potential and could see the light-filled rooms with huge windows being a beautiful place to both retreat and be calm, as well as come together and celebrate.
A recommendation from Jules which I will definitely use in the future, is the program Explore Cognac. This website highlights a number of experiences that tourists can uncover in the Cognac region. There are activities such as jewelry making, bike riding, barrel making, just loads of ways to discover all there is to do in Cognac. No 3 The Chateau has 2 experiences on the site, one for bread making in their old bread oven and another to host a dinner for 12 in the château dining room with a Michelin Starred chef!
No 3 The Château is a highlighted château on the Château Bee website and is booked out for a couple of years in advance! So if you're considering planning a wedding in France, get cracking! Booking a long way in advance is going to be a must!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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My beautiful friends Ruby Boukabou and Wendy Lee Taylor are teaming up as they have done before, but this time for a wonderful show, "Paris Time Step"! They're performing the spectacle on a péniche called the Marcounet, a sort of barge or long boat on the Seine just next to the Pont Marie which is across the river from the Ile Saint-Louis in my most fave little spot in Paris! I can even see the venue from my regular Paris apartment window!
The show takes the audience through different epochs and areas of Paris starting at the end of the 19th century right up to the current day. There are well known plus some absolutely gorgeous lesser known tunes which will be enthralling for both native French speakers and Anglophones. There's even a wonderful new song by Wendy's husband and amazing muso Philippe Petit.
Tune into the three way chat with me plus both Wendy and Ruby. There's even a special French song sung by Wendy in this episode that was my Papa's all time favourite.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Cathy McKenzie and her husband Lachie have travelled to France previously numerous times, including on an organised cycling tour. This year however, they decided to go and make up their own tour! They settled on a region to cycle in and booked bikes through a company that had an arrangement to store their luggage during the cycling leg of the vacation as well. That way they that only needed the paniers to carry with them and store everything they needed during the few weeks of cycling.
They cycled in a couple of different regions of France during this recent trip, mainly across the French riviera. Cathy locked in arrangements for weekends as this region is extremely popular during the summer months and she suspected accommodation could be more difficult to come by, when all the French locals descended on the coast as well! During the week though, they rode until they felt like stopping and if a village or area tugged at their heart strings, they stayed a few days. Sometimes Cathy booked accommodation a day ahead and on other occasions she took recommendations from locals or friends of the places they should head to next.
As well as the cycling holiday, this trip was also about completing a Grand Slam for Cathy and Lachie! They have been to Wimbledon previously and went to the Australian Open in January. The French Open was therefore on the itinerary in this 2023 summer and after Europe they travelled home to Australia via New York to attend the US Open.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Gabriel Gâté is a treasured iconic French chef in Australia! He is also a tv presenter, an author, a wonderful advocate for France and French events and businesses here Down Under and has been a fabulous friend to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast from almost the very beginning!
Recently Gabriel and his wife Angie travelled through France on a grand vacances. It occurred at the same time I was over in France and it seemed that we were travelling to the same places at different times!
I chatted with Gabriel about his visit to the Champagne region, to Strasbourg to visit with his niece Charlotte who together with her husband Guillaume Scheer, owns a Michelin starred restaurant there. He stopped in St Remy-de-Provence, in Sarlat which is a beautiful medieval village in the Dordogne and hosted a tour on the Saône River departing from Lyon. He gave me tips for finding market days for the various villages and we discussed all sorts of wonderful stuff to find at any marché du jour!
With further stays in the Loire Valley to visit with family, as well as some time spent up on the north coast of Normandy with family who had come in from all over France and the globe, Gabriel chatted with fascinating anecdotes about his travels all across the country.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Author Sonia Nicholson and I had a lovely chat about travelling with kids, without kids, with partners and also how life can get in the way of following our Paris dreams... but really we wouldn't have life any other way. Dreams can come true any time at any age!
Sonia's first book Provenance Unknown, tells the story of a young single mum archivist living in Canada who lands her dream job at the city archives and then discovers a forgotten French diary in the vault which takes her on a journey all the way to Paris.
But fascinatingly to me, Sonia described her own personal interaction with Paris and compared it to the seasons of her life. Sonia travelling to Paris in Grade 10 on a school trip as a wide eyed 16 year old is like the SPRING period of her life. She went to Paris and also explored the Normandy beaches at this time. When Sonia was just heading off to university with thoughts that she would change the world, she travelled to Paris again and this was the SUMMER of her life. Travelling back to Paris with her husband and 3 year old son, was her AUTUMN. Her son is now 17 and Sonia is yet to experience the WINTER Paris experience, that is being in Paris as a mature woman and adult.
I haven't thought about life in season format like this before, but I think I'm ready for my next seasonal France adventure!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Christophe Gay was born in a château in Burgundy that his father bought in 1966 for less than €10,000. It was in a state of ruin and needed a huge amount of repair, which Christophe's father who was very handy with a number of trades and worked as an electrician on the railways, continued to complete throughout his lifetime with his own hands. Christophe often assisted his father and got the bug to renovate his own château, which he did when he bought his first one with wife Sylvia in 2008. Now with a team working for him year round, Christophe loves breathing life back into these exquisite historical buildings, but with a number of mod cons thrown in! Every bedroom has an ensuite and every kitchen at least one or two dishwashers!
Christophe's business "Kasteliades" now has 6 châteaux which he manages as a team with his wife, son, daughter and son-in-law. It seems he has created a work environment encapsulating family togetherness as well as feeding their collective souls as they all breathe new life into these beautiful buildings dating back hundreds of years.
Tune into hear my chat with Christophe, all about the beauty and specialness of Burgundy - the gastronomy, the rooftops, the history, the wine!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Susan Hays has called France home for a couple of decades and after living all around the world, she agrees that she is living her dream life in the Charente Maritime.
She says life in a small French village has given her children a similar slow childhood to what she experienced in 1970s England and the way she painted the picture of their current life for me was just so beautiful. I was transported to a French village momentarily as I listened to her. I suggest flicking through holiday snaps from regional France whilst tuning into Susan's chat with me and if you don't have any of your own flick through mine on Instagram!
In the Charente Maritime Susan loves the climate and the slow life, whilst still having a wonderful cosmopolitan feel. With her 5 children and husband they have a fully bi-lingual household and are completely immersed in French village life.
Susan spoke of her family's plans for the afternoon after our interview where she pondered that they might head down to the river to the swimming hole with a picnic of baguettes, figs and other fresh pickings from her jardin, cheeses and a glass of champagne, whilst they cool off and perhaps take the paddle boards. It all sounds idyllic to me!
Tune in to hear more and escape to France with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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I have talked briefly on the podcast before about Mont Saint Michel, but given I had never been there it was only really in relation to how it was one of my Dad’s favourite places to visit in France. Mont Saint Michel in Normandy on the northern French coast is somewhere my Papa visited many times as well as the Channel Islands and Saint Malo, but it was Mont Saint Michel that he would rave on and on about to me! It also happens to be one of the more popular tourist attractions in France and was actually designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. When I decided to do a solo roadtrip across the northern coast of France this year, I was instructed by my dear Dad to visit this amazing mega structure!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Many Aussies dream of travelling through Europe. Some as young adults possibly backpacking, some with kids in tow and others are patient enough to wait until they can travel solo après children with friends in the same situation, or a spouse/partner. My recent guest did both! Trudy Walker travelled first with a girlfriend for 3 weeks and then when her friend Fiona went home her husband Dave arrived. So much fun was had by all! Trudy completed a load of organisation before the trip which would have had a significant impact on the success of the whole experience.
Tune into this episode for some tips on travelling through France with various forms of accommodation and transport, even touching on some details such as to why you should carry a little cash for petrol through regional France, or what to do when the maps you're using are out of date and there is no phone reception! Trudy's travels took her on a route around much of France across 10 weeks, so during this chat there's loads of daydreaming and escaping to whichever region takes your fancy!
With lots of recommendations including recipes and music, this is the place to come and momentarily escape to France with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Katherine Watt made the move from the US to Paris and Montmartre about 6 years ago. She loved her community in Paris, her block, her apartment and thought she would always stay there. But late last year she got notice that the owner wanted to move back into their home so she made the decision to move to the town she had previously only visited for vacations, Saint Malo.
So Saint Malo is up on the Bretagne coast, not far from the border with upper Normandy and Mont Saint Michel. It is a town with lots of Parisian holiday homes as well as Airbnbs. It also happens to be one of my Papa's fave places in France. I did wonder what all the fuss was about, and then I went there... now I know that all the fuss is absolutely justified!
Katherine spent her first three months after leaving Paris living in a vacation rental in an area of Saint Malo close to the touristy area near the ramparts. Eventually with help from local friends, she found a brilliant townhouse a couple of blocks from the beach in a part of Saint Malo called Saint Servan.
I spent a week in and around Saint Malo back in June this year and absolutely adored my experience there. The seafood, the people, the history, the beaches, the cider, the galettes! I couldn't get enough of it all! Katherine helped me find an Airbnb for my stay. There were so many to choose from and by chance I chose one almost across the street from her place! The little Breton vine covered cottages are gorgeous inside and out, just like the people of the region.
Tune in to hear all about our experiences in this extraordinary part of France.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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On Bastille Day I sat down with the gorgeous Meika Woollard to munch on a table full of pastries and chat about her recent first visit to Paris. It was wonderful to hear about Paris from the perspective of someone visiting for the very first time, and also through the eyes of a Gen Z! Older Francophiles like me will no doubt have memories of our childhood dreams of Paris, so hearing the magic Meika experienced on her first visit there brought back the innocence of my younger self!
Aussie Meika is now based in Europe with her career as a fashion model. She grabbed the opportunity to visit Paris with friends for a few days earlier this year. Before her visit, Meika was focused on mainly the touristy things, but once she got there she quickly realised there is so much more to the French capital. Meika and her friends turned first to TikTok and searched for "hidden things to do in Paris". They found a list of things to explore, picked one and caught an uber to the address. It turned out to be a cafe in Montmartre with love letters all over the walls, beautiful declarations of love written down and plastered everywhere!
Meika said that when visiting Paris for the first time, it was just like falling in love! I completely agree. I fell in love with Paris on the first morning I woke there and looked out my window at the Marais many years ago. I have been falling in love with all of France ever since!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Recently I spent a couple of months in France and through some upcoming podcast episodes I’ll chat about various experiences I had.
This episode details some things to consider when setting about planning and heading off on a road trip in France. For those who have listened to the podcast before or if you follow the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles on Instagram you will be in no doubt about how much I adore a French road trip! So much so that I managed to squeeze in a few separate road trips on my recent French visit. But the focus for this episode is where I started in Dieppe in Normandy and drove all the way across the north of France to the beautiful rugged coast of Brittany.
Tune in to hear tips for booking and staying in French villages, finding the magical hidden gems in northern France, as well as some amazing and surprising lifetime memories found along the way.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Madelyn Byrne is the founder and visionary behind the apartment rental business Paris Perfect. She grew up in a military family as an American but also a global citizen. as her father was stationed in Italy through some of her childhood. Working in London after College, Madelyn took a skiing weekend break in France with a friend and met her French husband, Philippe. Loaning out Philippe's Paris apartment to friends when working and studying elsewhere, started the business she has today.
Paris Perfect rentals are purposefully managed as rental apartments rather than staying in someone's home who has just been moved out temporarily. Everything has been considered for travelers including a concierge to greet guests and to connect with in Paris. There are apartments with exquisite views, for all occasions. There are romantic retreats, family friendly rentals or luxury stays.
The concierge at Place Dauphine is in an old hotel Madelyn bought and renovated. It's a 400 year old building which now has fabulous apartments decorated sympathetically with modern convenience. Madelyn told me all about the experience of turning this stunning old building into a functional space. The restoration turned out to be a labour of love. Madelyn had to go through 6 different historical committees to have an elevator installed! The buildings in Place Dauphine were built by Henri IV after the 30 years war of religion on the King's land. There were 32 little homes built for the workers of the king in 1610 on Place Dauphine. Madelyn found when renovating the "mother-beam". It is a massive beam which would have been floated down the Seine to the building and is positioned on the second floor holding all the building together. She also found an entrance from the cellar to the sewers of Paris. (**Both Madelyn and I highly recommend the tour of the Paris sewers which is accessed on the Tour Eiffel side of the Pont d'Alma.) Renovating an historic building such as Madelyn did will obviously have difficulties but also wonderful rewards. Peeling back all the layers of history when in the middle of the restoration can be fascinating, discovering the history of that particular building and uncovering its story.
Tune in to hear all about Madelyn's story. Come and escape to Paris with us!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Kate Veach and her husband Nathan were already living a life very connected to France with a French restaurant in Geelong outside of Melbourne, Australia but always dreamed of living in France, so just prior to COVID they made the decision to get serious about achieving their dream. They knew they loved Burgundy so drew a circle around Beaune with a limit of an hour travel distance and found their dream property 56 minutes from the epicentre of their search!
They had a brief to follow for the search of being in a village, walking distance to amenities, with a cellar and in a wine area. None of which was in the final property! They have found a property in a hamlet 3kms from a village with a number of outbuildings and some land which they found online during the Melbourne COVID lockdowns and bought sight unseen with only 7 photos! Purchasing remotely of course is a big risk so they engaged a buyers advocate to decipher the legal documents and work through the finer details. The result has been a beautiful experience of restoring the 100ish year old house and 500 year old barn, establishing themselves in a little French community.
There is so much to do and see in Burgundy. Kate told me about the picturesque villages to meander through, Burgundian food is known to be focused on fresh local produce and there is a wonderful Burgundy wine route. The area is also well known for excellent brocante!
Whilst there are challenges along the way, Kate recommends to anyone dreaming of a similar life as hers, just do it! Be realistic with your skill set to achieve the dream, but once that's clear, get going and do it! It's been the best thing she has ever done!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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When Adrian Leeds first visited France on a European trip with her not-yet-husband in 1979, she knew right then that Paris was a place that fed her soul.
Since that time over the last 28 years she has built a business that is devoted to assisting Anglophones from all over the world to turn their dreams of moving to France into a reality. The Adrian Leeds Group is now the go-to company for finding out all the details and pitfalls of navigating the complexities when wanting to purchase property and live in France. Adrian seems to have a special skill though which I think is essential, she sees the property in terms of its potential and what it can be rather than just what it is on first viewing. Adrian reminds her clients that they are buying what they can't change. The view, the light, the bones of the building structure is fairly set, but the rest is smoke and mirrors! No need to despair if you don't like the pink walls of a property you find! Adrian also has a team who will work to renovate for the client as well if that's what they want or need. She will work with the client to ascertain what their plans are, whether they want to purchase or rent, assist to find an appropriate property and find the way forward. Some people start with "I've been dreaming of moving to France..." whereas others have very specific ideas already set. Adrian's also great at giving a reality check for people who wear rose coloured glasses!
I have often heard from guests and listeners who have bought a place in France off the internet sight unseen! Adrian assists with this sort of situation regularly. Through COVID, Adrian had dozens of clients for whom she found properties, made a plan with the client, completed all the due diligence, then completed the renovation or restoration with her amazing teams in both Paris and Nice. I'm sure having her team working on the ground in France would have been great comfort to the client that what they saw on the internet was what they would actually get!
Adrian does caution against purchasing in France without a buyer's agent. Buyer beware! The seller's agent is only concerned about selling the property, not necessarily about the issues that could be associated with the property. I think if making a huge life decision such as buying property and moving to a foreign country, it only makes sense to get expert advice. There are a number of considerations for how to set up a purchase that will impact the manner in which the property can be passed on to future generations so this expert advice is in my opinion a fabulous investment.
Tune in to hear all the details as well as Adrian's take on life in Paris and France.
Come and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Friend to the Loulabelle's podcast Ruby Boukabou chatted on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles a few weeks ago to give me an idea of what to expect at the Cannes Film Festival but nothing could prepare me for the level of craziness I found when I finally got there! There is glitz and glamour but also just squillions of people! This chat is half way through the festival and includes Ruby's and my discussion about a couple of the films we saw:
The New Boydirected by Warwick Thornton, starring Cate Blanchett, Debra Mailman, Wayne Blair and newcomer Aswan Reid as the new boy. See the Cannes Couch clip for more here.
Jeanne du Barry directed by Maïwenn, also starring Maïwenn and Johnny Depp. For the Cannes Couch clip including our take on the press conference, click here.
The mammoth organisation of the festival is hugely impressive. Just the security alone is on a level we don't ordinarily see anywhere else.
Moving into the second week of the festival we are looking forward to more celebrities, a day trip to Nice, some more films and the Palm Dog Award which is the award for the best dog actor in film for the year! Only in France!
Come and escape to the Cannes Film Festival with us!
Follow along on YouTube on @TheCannesCouch
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Catherine Berry has appeared on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast previously way back in episode 39 when she chatted about her own life story of taking her family to live in France in the area around Annecy. Catherine wrote the first of her books about that experience, But You Are In France Madame.
In this current chat Catherine shares her expertise about Annecy, the largest town and capital of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and gives us her top tips and ideas for a visit. Annecy lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, and my discussion with Catherine provided me with a glorious virtual escape to that beautiful part of France, which I visited only last year prior to Christmas.
There are beautiful links to the past in Annecy, but the oldest looking part of the town, which is the most famously photographed area around the canals and the old prison, is not actually the oldest original part. There is another older part called Annecy-le-Vieux. The country surrounding Annecy is rugged and before the advent of good roads and transport, the area was quite remote. The recorded history goes back over a thousand years with the great grandson of Charlemagne deciding in the year 866 that he didn't want any more to do with his wife, so he divorced her and sent her to live in Talloires near Annecy. It seems she might have made the best of being carted off to such a place as Lac d'Annecy would have been at that time. She created a tiny religious establishment which then in turn brought monks to the area who created a monastery, which then brought about the construction of an abbey. The site of this abbey has just celebrated its 1000th anniversary back in 2018.
Catherine's favourite time in Annecy is spring after the breaking of the snow. Mid-year is very busy with large crowds coming to visit for the benefit of the lake in the heat of the summer as well as the water sports. I adore it in winter although that is not so practical if moving from place to place, dragging luggage through the slush and the snow. Either side of summer both prior or post the peak season can be cheaper and less crowded for a visit that still enjoys good weather.
Tune into this sweet chat with Loulabelle and Catherine to hear about one of France's most popular destinations, its history, its highlights and some local faves.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Ruby Boukabou has been on the Loulabelle's podcast a number of times and now she and I are headed to the wonderful Cannes Film Festival! Ruby has been attending as a journalist since 2009 and will lead me through my first experience of the Festival. This year Ruby and I will be sharing daily all the fun from the festival on our YouTube channel "The Cannes Couch". We'll be chatting on the couch with a cuppa and pastries in the morning or apero in the afternoon with loads of different Cannes personalities.
I asked Ruby what I can expect to see. There are loads of networking events, there are sales agents, distributors, producers, people buying films, people selling films... so much going on!
This year I am excited about an Australian film with Cate Blanchett, Debra Mailman and Wayne Blair directed by Warwick Thornton called The New Boy. It's a story of an Aboriginal boy who turns up mysteriously at a convent in 1940s Australia and is in the category for Un Certain Regard.
I'm looking forward to seeing some of the areas around Cannes, with a possible day trip to Nice or a Provence village on the cards! The famous Cannes parties are also something to look forward to!
With "press pass" in hand, who knows what exciting experiences are in front of us?!?!
Follow along with us on our YouTube channel The Cannes Couch! Tune in to our chat to hear about all the fun of the festival!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Sara Marner divides her heart between her holiday home in Normandy and her Melbourne life. After a 2008 visit to her husband's English family, Sara with her husband and kids took a three week drive through France and fell in love with the countryside and the lifestyle. They then bought an historic home in the middle of a quaint village an hour or so from Paris in the "Parc naturel régional du Perche".
Returning twice a year for long stays has connected Sara and her family to the local community. In my podcast chat with her Sara gave a number of tips she has collected over the years but I was most surprised by her suggestion in relation to car hire, renting direct from the car companies!
When looking for a home in France Sara's main criteria was to be able to go straight from the airport to the house without needing to make the trip from Australia longer, by needing to stay a night in Paris. Sara can time the arrival in Paris to be in the morning, collect the car straight away and in a couple of hours she is able to be in their own home in the middle of a French village! I love the ease that she describes this process to be in your own bed by the end of the trip, albeit your own bed on the other side of the world!
Sara's fave day made my heart sing with a day starting off with her wandering through a brocante and ending with eating alfresco with a table full of friends. My kind of perfect French day!
Tune in and escape to France with us xx
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Recently the beautiful cathedral of Notre Dame celebrated an anniversary no one would have wished for or expected a number of years back. On 15 April 2023 it was 4 years from the devastating fire that tore through the roof of Notre Dame and started years of renewal and restoration.
In this podcast chat with Paris resident and historian Claudine Hemingway, she spoke with me about the processes of the restoration as well as ways to still connect with Notre Dame until the repair is intended to be finished next year in December 2024.
Pre-fire my husband Paul and I climbed to the top of Notre Dame and took in the view of Paris surrounding the spire at the top of the cathedral. When we descended we went into the church and mass was just starting. We stayed for mass blending into the familiar ritual of sitting, standing and kneeling at the same times as we have in every other mass around the world. The prayers have the same pattern and lilt even though in another language. I felt so connected to my surroundings in Notre Dame during that visit, which I'm sure hundreds of thousands of other Catholics have over time as well. It is a church not just for Paris, but a church of the world in some ways. I'm so glad I did that climb now and stayed for mass. Seeing the fire take hold there solidified for me the view that we should never take anything for granted. We never know what tomorrow may hold...
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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A number of years ago Emily Lawrence Gazal brought her family from Bondi in Sydney Australia to live in Chatou 20ish minutes from the centre of Paris.
Emily knew her great grandmother was French but her grandmother would tell her no more. She didn't really know the story further down that branch of her family tree. Interestingly the other branches for Emily are all English speaking, which is sometimes the way. As English-speaking Australians, we often know more about the anglophone history than the non-English speaking.
Emily's grandmother's name was Lorraine so Emily took a guess that the family was from the Alsace-Lorraine area and may have named her after the region they were originally from. Emily was right and commenced a journey of uncovering the secrets of her family history her grandmother had kept hidden. I was fascinated to chat to Emily about this journey of discovery.
After checking out the situation on Ancestry.com where nothing was evident, she wrote to the Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages in New South Wales and received a surname. She also got a naturalisation certificate. Emily then went on a French ancestry website and found a similar name and putting 2 and 2 together, worked out that her great great grandfather was Jewish and when moving from France to Australia changed the family name slightly.
Emily ended up visiting the village in Alsace that her family came from, Ribeauvillé. She met with an archivist there who did more research on her family and found out some details that were immense discoveries for Emily. It turned out that she had family, the siblings of her great great grandfather Vernon, who had been highly regarded in the community and others who were taken away to Auschwitz and killed.
I love the importance Emily places on her French family history. Strengthening our ties with the past actually helps us learn more about ourselves.
Emily still has questions, such as why did her grandmother hide her Jewishness? Emily now feels connected to the area they were from as well as feeling connected to the French Jews she encounters.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Lindy Viandier is an accomplished author who has written about her wonderful home Les Libellules in Burgundy which she has owned for around five years with her French husband. In this podcast chat with Loulabelle', she shares her view of Burgundy, not just the well known but she delves deeper under the layers of history and tradition.
Burgundy is southeast of Paris, encompassing the area around Dijon, Beaune and another beautiful town Lindy highly recommends, Autun. The seasons are definitely marked and the change from one to the next will be noticed with extremes of cold and hot, but the scenery in any weather is beautiful with gentle rolling hills, vineyards, forestry and farming. There are loads of gorgeous medieval villages, some with ramparts, abbeys and châteaux. The polychrome roof tiles which are a feature of the region are exceptional.
I love how when I travel from one region to another the menu can be completely different. In Burgundy there is the traditional dish of Boeuf Bourguignon, escargots and of course Dijon mustard. The Burgundy wines are exceptional with some varieties going back more than 600 years. There's also a traditional ginger cake which sounds amazing!
Lindy and I explore all of this and then more of the local stories, traditions as well as wonderful recommendations of places to visit.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Ann Dennis is an artist and interior designer who is passionate about interiors, art and antiques. Many of us Francophiles benefit from by following her socials with exquisite and sumptuous designs shared consistently. I so loved delving deeper into her French inspired story with this podcast chat.
Ann grew up in a family who valued French design elements. Something as simple as dining by candlelight with linen instead of paper napkins! Ann shares my passion for French crockery and collecting plates, so much so that she once carried 8 Gien plates home on her lap on the plane!
Ann chatted to me about her French trips with including châteaux stays and one of a kind experiences, as well as the flow-on impact to her design. Ann is influenced by both her travels as well as her extensive library of design books.
Personally, I feel that modern French design has evolved beautifully. It has gone from the ordered formality we see in some of the grand châteaux to sometimes even a collection of brocante-finds eclectically combined to be what is sometimes called shabby chic. I love Ann's abstract art and the manner in which it can sit in the middle of the structure and formality of French design. Ann talked about the way that these days we can mix a number of design elements together and it just "works"! When there is abstract art in a formal style French room, I find it quite freeing... it helps me decompress. It somehow encourages me to "let go" inside. I feel that contemporary abstract art doesn't hold on to the formality of design and assists me to let go of the formality of life, freeing me to be more in touch with my inner self. The combination of formal French and abstract art provides the best of both worlds to my eye and feeds my Francophile heart.
Ann says that French style has a sophistication that is instantly recognisable. I think the designs that Ann shares are just timeless. I'll be continuing to follow her socials and fill my Francophile soul daily.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I'm not exactly sure of the origins of all the differing types of brocante markets in France, but it seems that most regions have little antique markets or at least a brocante stall on weekends in the summer. Some brocante fairs are huge whereas others are mostly like a small car-boot sale, but gorgeous antique finds can be found regardless.
I chatted recently with the wonderful Emily Gaudichon about one of her topics of expertise which is brocante in Paris. Emily actually hosts tours to the two main brocante markets she recommends in Paris: Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt and also Foire de Chatou. Emily also took me through the various types of brocante market as well as her top tips for brocante searching and purchasing in France.
I know there are some places in France that have brocante as the main focus of the village all year round like L'Isle Sur La Sorgue in Provence near Avignon which has amazing antique and bric-a-brac stores. I love meandering through villages to find little nuggets of fabulousness selling brocante here and there. I mentioned to Emily one market I haven't been to but is definitely on my list to visit: the Braderie de Lille which is enormous, ranked as the largest in Europe with a history back as far as 1127.
Join us to escape to France.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
There are many plans afoot to travel back to Europe after the last couple of COVID affected years and for some these plans have been underway for quite some time.
If you’re intending to travel from Australia and New Zealand, or even from the US, Canada, South America or anywhere out of Europe really, it is a long way to France and takes a long time! But if you're like me you will know the time and distance is worth it! Even still, most people like to make sure they are going to both get their money’s worth and cram in as much as possible on their trip. The key to achieving those things is good planning.
Now I’m sure you’ve sat around sharing a glass of French bubbly with friends before and rabbited on about travelling together to the Champagne region, or Provence or to Paris. I love this part of the travel planning process! The I’m-dreaming-but-really-I’m-a-bit-serious, kick off to a group travel experience! But there’s so much more to consider. Dreams are not always the same even when coming out of the same conversation. So tune into this episode for the 10 main tips to consider for group travel once you get past the stage of dreaming and get into the action of doing!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Kent Tisher has been a follower of the LFF podcast for some time but I only met him after he recently won the Loulabelle's giveaway and was communicating with me regarding the arrangements for the sending of a magnum of Taittinger champagne to him in Canada. I then uncovered his French story and felt I wanted to share it with FrancoFilers everywhere!
Kent is the son of international teachers and grew up in French West Africa. Whilst he and I both agree there is a bigger conversation to be had about colonialism, it was interesting to hear of the way he grew up with French influences that have left a lasting impact. Kent also went to medical school in the French Caribbean on the island of St Martin, so his experiences of French culture internationally are quite varied.
Now living in Canada, Kent works as a palliative care doctor. I can imagine this work would be extraordinarily taxing, as well as rewarding. Kent says one by-product of the work he does is to focus on living his best life. He does this in some ways by connecting his creative side and freeing his mind by engaging in a couple of his other passions, opera singing and piano playing/composition. But he has also travelled extensively and chatted to me about some amazing experiences he has had in France.
Together with his sister and also sometimes with his cousins Kent has done a couple of roadtrips. One particular trip he described to me was a vacation where they all hiked from Dijon through Burgundy. The best part of this trip was that the tour organisers took their luggage from village to village each day so Kent and his family could hike unencumbered through the grape vines. (I imagine it was more like a lovely meandering!) As he chatted I could actually imagine being there for these experiences. He also explained how drinking champagne in Champagne was a revelation for him! Kent told mer that lots of champagne making happens in local garages and the terroir is so prevalent when tasting the various wines... much more than the large blended champagne houses. I now can't wait to get there!
Sometimes people cross our paths for a reason. I feel so fortunate to have crossed paths now with Kent. I now have a new determination to live my best life as he said, whilst staying my own motto to 'be kind".
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Mardi Michels is an Australian born, Canadian living, Francophile who's journey over many years was lovely to immerse in for a while as we chatted.
Mardi and I talked over zoom with her sitting in her gorgeous vacation home in south west France in Nerac. The light over her shoulder had me longing for France even with just an online connection... swoon!
So Mardi grew up in Adelaide and learned French from the start of high school. Immediately after finishing school at age 17 she then went on a Rotary exchange program to Belgium. Unfortunately France wasn't available but Brussels provided the opportunity for her to be fluent in French by the end of the year.
After her exchange experience, Mardi returned to Australia and went to university to study French further. She started to wonder why she was learning French and French literature whilst living in Australia! So she made the move to France. After some twists and turns in her journey, Mardi discovered she loved teaching and became a French teacher.
Her journey took another turn when she moved to Canada and eventually had the opportunity to create cookbooks! It wasn't originally the plan to make books for children's cooking, but with some more twists and turns the result was Mardi having great success encouraging French cooking with kids!
Now between, more cookbooks being released, teaching French in Canada, spending summers in her vacation home in Nerac in France and running that as a holiday rental, Mardi lives a busy French life! To me though it sounds like she has struck just the right balance and shows us all how to live a purposefully French inspired life.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I first met Andrew Prior when he was a guest on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast way back in episode 66 and since then I have been to stay at his home in Montmorillon. It is in one of 12 departments in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, in the beautiful Vienne not far from the Loire Valley.
When I stayed there, I had one of the two best meals of my whole life. As a previous MasterChef contestant, I knew any meal prepared by Andrew would be memorable, but nothing prepared me for the sensational experience my husband Paul and I had with the alfresco meal prepared for us at his home. I said I would never try to replicate any of the dishes as I could never do them justice to Andrew's original! He did suggest in this chat though that I come back to visit and do a cooking class with him! I am definitely popping that on my to-do list in France!
Andrew chatted with me about the local food specialties, a wine variety I have never tried and also his attempt at educating the locals about our Aussie Kath & Kim culture! I heard about local festivals, nearby places to visit to suit those seeking either touristy or just fabulous, and Andrew's fave past-time of brocante shopping in local markets.
Now I have immersed myself in the Vienne near Montmorillon in this chat, I both feel as though I have had a petit vacances and escape to this beautiful region whilst at the same time j'ai hâte to get back there!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I have always had a love of France as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, my home was filled with old music and the old “chanson” from my dear Papa who is a wonderful muso. In this 100th episode of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast, the tables are turned and I am interviewed about my own French story by previous Loulabelle's podcast guest, now lovely friend, Ruby Boukabou.
In the March of 2020 I was to take a trip to France with my oldest girlfriends from my school days. We planned to visit Paris and the Champagne region as a celebration for our communal 50th birthdays. In the week I was to depart, COVID hit Australia and our world started to shut down. I was in disbelief that our travel plans were to be cancelled and obviously devastated not to be able to visit my favourite place, France. In Melbourne Australia where I live, we then began the first of our lockdowns which ended up being among the longest in the world. The impact on us all of not being able to leave our homes was huge, especially to our mental health. I started listening to podcasts during my hour of allowable exercise outside per day, but found that I had so many more questions for the guests of the shows I was tuning into could answer! So I decided to make my own podcast and the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles was born!
I’m the sort of person who wonders what kind of lives people have when I’m looking at cottages whilst driving through a little village, or what life was like in a particular period of time for the ordinary people as well as the infamous characters of history. I was always a day dreamer as a child and still consider time when we can stop, ponder and dream as being invaluable to our daily routine and mental health.
I adore Paris, but there is something about the little villages with their squares and the markets that just makes my soul burst. When I’ve been road tripping around France I actually can’t wait to return to Paris, but when I’m in Australia it’s my memories of country France that keeps my little Frenchy vibes fluttering! Every time I travel to a new place in France I declare that it is my favourite, that I want to buy a petit cottage and move there to live happily ever after! There are so many places that pull at my heart strings as they hold wonderful souvenirs of time spent there making lifetime memories.
Tune in to hear the full story and escape to France with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Richelle Harrison Plesse is an accomplished international journalist who many Aussies would recognise from reporting and news-reading on our screens. She did not grow up as a Francophile but conversely considered herself an Anglophile! She moved to London after finishing university where she met her French husband and moved to Paris pour l'amour!
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Richelle's career moved into a new field after her French move. She had been doing a lot of travel journalism, lifestyle and culture reporting, but moved into hard news. She had the best of both worlds then by being able to report international news as well as still connecting with all the cultural things she loved.
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One of the most memorable experiences in France for Richelle was reporting on the 2015 terror attacks in Paris. Richelle was singing on stage in a bar nearby at the same time and all within her venue could tell something tragic was unfolding from messages coming through to smart phones. For the first time when Richelle talked about this, I saw the situation as it was for Paris locals. The resilience of the French people is formidable and the way Richelle described the way they have moved forward collectively as well as individually, is inspiring.
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Richelle now doesn't necessarily think of herself as a Francophile but rather she identifies as being French. I did suggest though that one can be both!
Discovering new corners of regional France is something I adore. Just like me Richelle is inspired by the history, architecture, culture and the lifestyle as well as just loving a meandering exploration in either Paris or a country region. Chatting to Richelle about these loves of mine was beautiful food for my aching FrancoFiler soul!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Suzie Jackson has always had an affinity to France. She deliberately didn't make her first trip to Paris until her 30s as she was concerned she would be let down by the reality not living up to the dream. But there was nothing to fear, as Suzie's first French experience had her feeling like she had come home. For years then she dreamed of owning a property in France and spent hours Googling châteaux for sale. In 2014 she decided with her then husband, that it was time to get serious and booked a trip to France to view a number of different châteaux of various sizes and condition in the Loire Valley to get a better sense of what they could or should buy. The first couple of days were a huge learning curve with crumbling ruins, discovering the frightening cost of slate roof repairs, replacement electrics and regulations for historical monuments. Finding that quintessentially dream French property was not going to be easy. Then Château de la Carrière popped up and from the moment she drove up the driveway, Suzie knew they had found their French country home.
Château de la Carrière sounds like the kind of place that would be a wonderful stop in the middle of a European holiday. After travelling on a 6-7 week trip with my family and kids when they were quite young, a few days or a week to recharge is an important tip to consider. I love a break in the middle of a vacation when I can slow down, play cards or croquet, dip in the pool, potter in a potager or sit in a beautiful salon and read a book. Connecting to the building and the place at a leisurely pace sounds perfect to me.
Suzie loves to experiment with the produce from her garden. Nothing makes her happier than making dinner from the potager and bringing big buckets of flowers from the garden into the château. She also makes aperitifs when she has a houseful of people. I'd love to try her cocktails with her home-made tulip syrup, dandelion honey, rhubarb syrup or elderflower cordial... whatever is thriving in the garden when eventually I visit! I also now have a hankering to visit the local broccante markets that she described to me.
Suzie says that a château project is not for the fainthearted, but she also feels that the life she is living is her dream life. I think she's living my dream as well!
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTube*Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist*
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram**Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website
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Paris is a place filled with myriad cultures, religions, languages and nationalities. We tend to view France through the quintessentially French perspective of "chateaux, champagne et croissants", but there is so much more to discover with just a little scratch of the surface.
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I spoke recently to Pakistani woman Fiza about her move with her family from Pakistan to Paris. She has family already living there which prompted France to be the country of choice for their emigration, but initially even with family support she found it difficult having no French when she arrived. Fiza moved to France as a young adult a few years ago and not long after, COVID hit and the country went into lockdown. Fiza then taught herself French through YouTube and watching French movies or television whilst she had to stay at home.
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I discussed with Fiza the differences of her Parisian life from when she was in Pakistan. The way Fiza describes her French world is so different from many other people living in Paris I have spoken to. There is a significant difference in the worlds inside and outside the périphérique, as there is also between the "leafier" arrondissements to the more working class areas. As foreigners we often don't connect with any part of Paris beyond the tourist sites.
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I was inspired by Fiza to try and view a different Paris on occasion in the future. She mentioned to me that her dream had always been to have a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. She has now got to turn this dream into a reality.
The Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast is hosted by Louise Prichard.
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Guest: Tom Munro - The Other Bordeaux
Tom Munro spent 20 years working for vineyards and wineries both in Australia and France. He now imports French wine straight from the château to our door! I know in my house everyone gets very excited when a delivery of a box arrives from The Other Bordeaux!
Tom's knowledge of wine is incredible. It is clearly a passion for him as he started making wine at home when he was only 9 years old!
Tom has been fortunate to live in France for quite a time and I loved hearing of his experiences during that time: the way each year's harvest had a song that connects him to it; the history he was immersed in; the way he finds the suppliers for his wines who have sometimes become life-long friends.
In this episode we chat about the evolution of French wine, the negative impact and surprise positive side-effect of climate change, suggestions for food and wine pairings and how to taste all 365 wine growing regions in France!
For now though, just pour one glass as you listen and drift off, dreaming of escaping to France as you sip!
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Special offer for Loulabelle's FrancoFiles listeners!
All subscribers to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles newsletter will go into a draw to win a $400 voucher for The Other Bordeaux. To subscribe to the LFF newsletter simply email the word "SUBSCRIBE" to bonjour@loulabellesfrancofiles.com
All subscribers registered for the LFF newsletter by Friday 10 March 2023 will be eligible to win.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Guest: Emily Gaudichon**
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I love checking in with my lovely friend Emily Gaudichon (@therealemilyinparis) who lives in Paris's 6th arrondissement. She has her finger on the pulse of everything going on and always has some terrific tips for me to pop into my itinerary for my next visit to the French capital!
In this podcast chat Emily and I discuss the café culture in Paris, the rituals for chocolat chaud and where to find coffee that passes for us Melbourne coffee snobs! Emily told me of some Australians now bringing our coffee culture to Paris!
There's a little of the fascinating history behind both of my fave non-alcoholic bevvys, chocolat chaud and coffee, as well as loads of our recommendations for where to go and how to get the most out of a chocolat chaud ritual in Paris.
Head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for a more comprehensive list of all our favourites.
Louise Prichard is host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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**Guest: Shannon Pratuch
Over ten years ago, a client flew Shannon Pratuch to Paris from the US for a project she was working on. Over the few days she was there she wandered throughout Paris, losing herself in the nooks and crannies of the city ultimately falling in love with Paris and then with all of France. Every time after that when she returned she stayed longer, eventually making the move to live there. Shannon says she finds it hard now to even consider leaving France. She could spend 20 life-times in Paris and France and it would still not be enough for her to experience all she wants to about her adopted country! Shannon now works and lives in France full-time, owning a house, a car, a business, two petite French bulldogs (Rose and Pearl) and has a multi-year residency card. Shannon believes that France is the most incredible country in the world! She is absolutely in love with this dream she's living every day. I think I'd be in love with such a life too!
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I have dreamed of a life such as Shannon's. After talking to her, it now weirdly feels both further away and simultaneously more possible than ever! The amount that she knows, the work she has now found in France... that seems out of reach for most of us. But Shannon talks with such conviction about following that dream of a French life, I feel like if she can do it, maybe any of us can if we try hard enough. What I do know is that for any of us who want to try to make a French life a reality, even on a short-term basis, having Shannon as a resource will be invaluable.
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Shannon shares many tips with us in this wonderfully warm chat, but my only tip for travelling in France is one she also shares: take time to be a flaneur... engage in the art of strolling and taking in your surroundings.
Come and escape momentarily to France with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
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Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Guest: Jane Hiscock
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Jane Hiscock and her husband Steve have both always loved France. They originally travelled there every couple of years before starting their family many years ago. Then in 2010 they went to Paris to start a search for a Paris apartment, but before commencing that task, they travelled to stay with friends in Normandy who invited them to a party at a place they called the "chocolate box château". It was a beautiful place renovated by a New York interior designer who threw wonderful parties. They went to a luncheon that continued through into the night and by the end of the evening it became apparent that the château was for sale and that was it! They were both sold! From that point Château Jonquay became a significant part of Jane's and her family's life.
- Built in 1635 we hear in this chat the fascinating history as well as the ways the château has evolved for a modern world. Jane tells of the château's secrets uncovered including a possible WW2 mystery.
- At one point through the many renovation projects, Jane realised she was going to be there doing the work on her own. None of the family was available to join her so she put out a message to her networks and 10 girlfriends came to stay and assist! Jane's request stated that if they wanted to come and experience French food, French wine, French men and were happy to pick up a paintbrush then this was the (working) holiday for them!
- Jane has recently made a scented candle of the smell she feels wraps her up when at the château. Lighting that when she's back in Melbourne takes her right back there. Perhaps Château Jonquay never really leaves her anyway and is always in her heart.
- Come and escape to France momentarily with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Guest: Lisa Anselmo
Lisa Anselmo is the author of My (Part-Time) Paris Life and has spent most of her professional career in magazine publishing, working on such iconic brands as Allure, Mademoiselle, InStyle, and People. She started to head over to Paris more and more and was following the fashion trends she saw there. She would write to her friends about her experiences and created an early form of a blog, pre-social media. It was picked up by Bonjour Paris and she became their fashion editor! Lisa fell in love with the European lifestyle and especially Paris. Her transition eventually from New York to Paris felt seamless.
Like me Lisa's best friend was her mother who passed away some years ago. In this chat Lisa and I spoke frankly about our mothers and their impact on the way we live our lives now, especially in relation to France. Lisa spoke about lots of signs that popped up which helped her feel that her mother was with her and guiding her during her move to Paris. I know just how she feels. The little moments when I recognise my mum shining through in French are very precious.
Tune in for practical tips and insights for moving to Paris or France, how to navigate challenges and some things to be aware of. Lisa actually recommends a shorter stay before taking the leap to move to France as a visa isn't required for stays shorter than 3 months.
Lisa Anselmo shares so much of herself in my chat with her. I actually learned a lot about myself through listening to her. Lisa shares my passion for history, architecture, French culture and connecting to the past, the present and in some ways the future. As she spoke about the lessons she has learned about herself since moving to Paris, sparks of recognition of my own life flashed in my head. Lisa has a refreshing perspective and sees the world in a way I hadn't considered. As she stated her thoughts on happiness, that it is a state of mind and a choice and that she has now learnt to love herself flaws and all, I thought of how hard we all can be on ourselves. Perhaps embracing what we have and who we really are deep inside as Lisa does, is a lesson for us all.
The Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Episode 91 guest: Nicole Ress
Nicole Ress is Melbourne's go-to Frenchie for language and travel! Nicole grew up in a French speaking household with her mother who had come to Australia from Paris in the 1950s, met Nicole's dad and settled here. It was a wonderful and unusual childhood not just because of the French influence. Nicole's father and grandfather were in the hotel business and owned the Ress Oriental Hotel in Collins Street Melbourne. When her mother saw the hotel she exclaimed to Nicole's father, with the plane trees and the architecture it looked like Paris, all it was missing were the tables and chairs on the terrasse on the street. So Nicole's father applied for a permit to have the outdoor tables and he then coined the phrase, "the Paris end of Collins Street" which has stuck to that part of Melbourne to this day!
In this podcast chat we hear of Nicole's extraordinary life with two cultures and two countries in her heart. I was fascinated to hear of her experiences living in the city hotel in Melbourne with the Treasury Gardens as her back yard. As she grew up in this environment with guests like Maurice Chevalier staying at the hotel, she felt both French and Australian. I loved her stories of times she visited Paris and France with her family. Especially the times she had experiences with extraordinary chefs and famous wine houses that most of us can only dream about!
My favourite part of this podcast chat with Nicole is how she described her perfect French day. I have asked that question 90 times before, but this is the first time that a guest has taken me on a tour for the day where I could close my eyes and actually imagine myself there as Nicole walked me through one exquisite experience after another. She picked me as a cassis sorbet lover as we sat virtually under the orange trees in a Provence village looking out over the countryside to the Mediterranean in the distance. Bliss!
Close your eyes as you listen and you can join us there too.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Guest: Jennifer Greco
Jennifer Greco has tasted over 460 French cheeses! I looooooved chatting to her so much as fromage is one of my favourite foods. She says there is a cheese for every mood and she eats cheese every day. After moving to France with her husband 20 years ago, Jennifer discovered a love for fromage and took on the challenge to try every French cheese there is! The current number of French cheeses is between 1600-1800 so she has a few to go!
For the last 18 years Jennifer has explored French food, culture, wine and cheese through her blog. She also wrote a ten-part series about her journey to become a French citizen.
In this chat with Jennifer I tap into her amazing knowledge of fromage. Listening to her talk about different cheeses, the notes in their flavours, the complexity of the layers that reveal themselves during the eating of a cheese, I began to have a newfound respect for fromage. I've always loved cheese, but now after talking to Jennifer I want to learn more about the different cheeses, how they're made, how to serve them, how to ask in the country markets for particular important things that should be considered when buying cheeses. I learned a lot just in this chat with Jennifer, such as that the Comté cheese makers in France have got together and created a flavour wheel identifying 83 notes and flavours in that cheese. Everything from grasses, herbs, nuts, salt... but 83 of them! Incredible!
Jennifer is now not just a French cheese lover but also an educator. She spends her days eating and writing about fromage for various publications, also offering gourmet food tours and French cheese workshops.
Tune in to escape to France momentarily with us.
Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Natalie Mueller always had a love for France which intensified during her early 20s when she worked in hospitality and had experience with a Michelin starred chef. He would only speak to her in French! So with that and the daily immersion in French food she was hooked! Since then she has built her own thriving and successful business "Olive Catering" in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. But Natalie is now ready for the next phase of her life and is embarking on a fabulous adventure. She has sold her home in Queensland and is moving to France!
I absolutely loved chatting to Natalie about her plans for the future, dreaming about wonderful times in France in the past as well as imagining what is yet to come. I place a huge amount of importance on dreaming and making time to stop daily to ponder the possibilities of the future. It is often our dreams that keep our hopes alive through tough times. Hearing about how someone else just like me has achieved her dream, gives me hope that it could happen to any of us if we want it enough and are willing to try to make our dreams a reality.
Tune in to hear Natalie's story and momentarily escape to France with us!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Joyeux Noel and Bonne année!
Recently I was in France for an amazing adventure! I travelled from Lyon, through the Beaujolais region, across to Annecy and then up to the Alsace region for the traditional Christmas sights in Colmar and Strasbourg as well as all the quaint villages surrounding them. Finally I reached Paris for the most magical Noël experiences of all!
Tune in for my top 5 tips for travelling in the French mountainous regions in December as it is winter! The time of mulled wine, big coats, warm open fires and rugging up with their fabulously filling comfort food! But there are a few nuggets of info everyone should take note of if planning this sort of roadtrip.
I'll also take you through some divine little villages including my top 3 Alsace Christmas villages with winding streets to meander through like a magic fairy tale unfolding. We'll also explore some official Plus-Beaux-Villages-de-France. I'll chat about the wines, the mouth watering traditional foods, the accommodation, as well as some terrific Chrissy shenanigans that happened along the way.
With a little bit of history and some Michelin star recommendations thrown in, it's time to settle back and escape to France with me!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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If you're planning on going to Lyon during its Fête des Lumières in any December, or to visit Lyon at any time, this Loulabelle's chat will be most helpful and of great interest for you!
Recently I have been travelling on a wonderful French roadtrip with our LFF fave Frenchy correspondent ma belle amie Sarah Zwick from Be My Guest Immersions.
We were thrilled to be in Lyon at the same time of the Fête des Lumières. Being December, it was cold, but we were so lucky with the weather. Whilst the temperature dropped to below zero most nights the days were clear and dry and not terribly cold as we were rugged up and staying active. Tops of around 3 degrees.
Tune into this chat to hear a little of the history of Lyon, the magic of the festival of light (including a little bit of Australia with AC/DC making an appearance!), Christmassy moments, the food, the vin chaud, the Route des Vins just outside of Lyon, the Lyonnaise special traditions such as the Bouchons, Traboules and the amazing Les Halles de Paul Bocuse.
Come on a petit journey and escape to France with us.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Emma Morgan had such a different French story to chat about with me! It's not often we consider the sport of Ultra Marathon Running as being particularly French, but Emma fascinated me with her story of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc she ran in the French Alps around Chamonix, this past summer of 2022.
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The Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, also known as the UTMB is the most sought-after trail-running event for trail-runners from all over the world crossing three countries: France, Italy and Switzerland. Each year, at the end of August, the elite of the trail-running world come to Chamonix Mont-Blanc to participate in one of the event's races.
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Firstly, not everyone gets to run an Ultra Marathon. Qualification is needed by earning points from particular lead-in events. Qualification is actually both demonstrating that each competitor can run 100kms and also a lottery, which Emma entered together with her friends so if one of them made it through the lottery, they all got a spot. Emma worked through the qualifying criteria and winning a lottery spot with a couple of her friends she was off! The course of the event would usually take hikers 7 to 9 days to traverse but Emma completed the whole event in 43 hours! In the whole 43 hours Emma had only 20 minutes of sleep. Continuing in the dark, in rugged terrain, in extreme conditions meant that 42% of starting competitors didn't finish.
- Tune into the fascinating and inspiring chat with Emma. How she coped with the language barrier, the different customs, all with preparations in mountainous regions of Australia much smaller than the French Alps! The locals came out to cheer the runners on, the Australian competitors supported each other, the stations along the way had good cooked foods, medics and rest spots. But in the end, it is an extreme event and I am in absolute awe of Emma's amazing achievement.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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I adore Christmas! I love the decorations, the carols, the advent calendars, the gift-giving, the food! Living in Australia though, Christmas has always been a summer event with loads of seafood, playing cricket and lunch outdoors. I have always been curious about Christmas in other places around the world, so it was wonderful to chat to lovely Emily Gaudichon about Christmas in Paris and France. Emily is quite an expert on Parisian Christmas having released a Christmas in Paris Guide together with Landen Kerr.
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This year I am heading to France in the lead up to Christmas so I was hanging on every word relating to places to see the lights, ice skating, mulled wine in the jardins. Whether you're planning a Christmas in Paris in the future or just want to immerse in the festive season French style from wherever you are in the world, tune in to hear all about the French traditions of Réveillon de Noël, the food, the decorations, the markets, the whole Frenchy Christmas experience!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify PlaylistLoulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
I wonder if chef and restaurant owner Matthew Carnell from Bistro Terroir in Daylesford, Victoria was always destined to be connected to France. After attending a French school trip as a 14 year old, Matt's next Francophile adventure was after he had started his chef's apprenticeship in Australia and he won an award that gave him a month working in a Michelin Star restaurant in Bordeaux.
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Clearly he is a talented chef as on that Bordeaux trip he was offered to stay on after the month when the award prize was finished, but Matthew returned to Australia to complete his apprenticeship. As soon as he was qualified, he made contact with that original Michelin Star chef from Bordeaux and was snapped up for his new restaurant in Paris. A huge learning curve in a formal/top Parisian kitchen ensued with no French language skills, except for how to order a beer!
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Matt also has had extensive experience working in regional France and even had a period working with sustainable food processes and farming. He even explored alternative preserving practices, making "bocaux". This is obviously very different from the bright lights of Paris, with the flavours of beautiful raw produce. Matt has now found a balance with food that is unpretentious with an element of his Michelin Star past, but without overworking the experience.
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Back now in Australia, I have had the pleasure of dining in Matthew's restaurant Bistro Terroir in Daylesford.
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Tune into to this chat to escape to various regions of France with us. Matt recommends some eclectic French music as well as some amazing French dishes not often heard of outside the particular regions.
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Find Matthew's link on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
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Janine Marsh is an author, the creator of The Good Life France website and editor of the associated magazine as well as an all-round fabulous fellow Francophile!
I found I share a number of both afflictions and fortunate circumstances with Janine. We are both hopeless dreamers, but I always think dreams are a most important part of a healthy life. How sad it would be not to have dreams to aspire to achieve! Even if they never come to fruition, the act of dreaming itself is so much fun. Janine and I both have husbands who share our love of France, or even if they don’t have quite the same level of Frenchy amour, they’re happy to support us with ours! We both fall in love with every new place in France we visit, exclaiming that we could move and live there forevermore from that moment on! We both are crazy cat ladies and are helpless to the needs of any animal who expresses the slightest need of us and most importantly we both love to write and talk and laugh!
Tune into this chat to hear about Janine's snap decision to buy a farmhouse in France on a day when her fate called out to her.18 years later she is still diligently renovating, whilst living with a flock of unruly chickens, a gaggle of geese, 6 cats, 2 dogs and most recently a hedgehog interloper! Her engaging tales of her French life , her recommendations of film, music and food, plus the picture she paints of a France for our minds, take me straight back there.
Life anywhere will have its challenges of course, and I’m sure it’s just the same for Janine in the north of France. My dear late Mumma used to say that if you find something you love to do and make that your job, you’ll never feel like work is hard. I wonder if it is the same for where we live. Find a place you love and move there, then everyday can feel like a holiday! You’ll be living the dream! After my chat with Janine about her life in France, I’m more convinced than ever that dreams can come true.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Lorena Stipani is a soprano I saw perform at the wonderful Entrecôte restaurant in Prahran, Melbourne in her Edith Piaf show earlier this year. I was blown away by her amazing talent.
In this episode I chat to Lorena about living & studying abroad, then returning to Australia finding that during the pandemic she was able to dive head-first into her work. She has written a new show filled with the music of Edith Piaf and telling the story of her life.
Lorena conveys such intense feeling and emotion when singing about Piaf. She says she feels such a connection to Edith. She loves Edith's passion... she loves her vulnerability... and has to take care not to let that emotion overcome her when she's singing.
Lorena tells us a little of the story of Edith's life taking us on a wonderful journey in this chat. She has a connection to all things French, especially being married to a Frenchman! We hear about the French culture being a part of their daily lives with celebrations, loads of French food, wine and costumes!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Author Patricia Sands is such a wonderfully warm and engaging woman. I loved chatting to her and could have kept talking with her over a cuppa for the rest of the day (probably swapping to wine at some stage and chatting on through the night!)
Patricia talked to me about her passion for writing from the perspective of more mature women, about her fascinating life story as a teacher in her early years, being widowed then remarried... She chatted freely about the way COVID affected her, about her very personal experience looking in northern France for her uncle's grave who was killed during WW2, as well as her ongoing connection to France.
Talking to Patricia about "her" Provence, I just want to jump on a plane and head there immediately! She has a way of painting a picture that evokes an emotional response.
I loved most of all Patricia's response to my request for her to describe her perfect French day. Her response, "I can answer this easily as I have lived my perfect French day so many times!" How wonderful to know then, that dreams can actually come true.
There is hope for all of us.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
This episode is the second part of a chat about our epic road trip around western France in the French summer of 2022.
On this vacation, my husband Paul and I first traveled from Paris to the Loire and then down to the Pays Basque which can be explored in episode 79.
In this Loulabelle's FrancoFiles episode we travelled from Bayonne in the Basque region of south-west France up to the Dordogne, then across to Lège-Cap-Ferret which is on the coast past Bordeaux, then spent our final days in Paris before our return to Australia.
I love a slow holiday where we stay in the one place for a month and just relax and immerse ourselves in a local scene, but I find Australians especially try to pack as much into a visit to anywhere in Europe including France as it is quite expensive for us to get over there and it takes a long time! We are quite a long way away in Oz so we want to make the most of it! But if I had the time to stop in one spot for longer and meander around a particular place for an extensive period, that would be my preference I think. Malheureusement we didn’t have the luxury of months to meander so we road tripped and I must say, it was still amazing despite moving on every few days.
In this chat you'll hear of our visits to some Plus Beaux Villages de France, our stay in the Dordogne – Perigord Noir region, how we chilled on the coast and also how we made the most of time with friends who chanced to be in the same place at the same time on the other side of the world!
All of this during a time when the mercury was nudging 40!
We also share ways to ensure you return from a road-trip still talking to each other... oui, it is ok to do separate things whilst travelling together!
Come and join us and lose yourself in France xx
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Over the past couple of years travelling anywhere has been a challenge and for most people, it has been completely out of the question during what I call "the lost COVID years".
My husband Paul has travelled in France a number of times with me pre-COVID (which we chatted about way back in episode 16 and 17). That trip included a visit to Paris, followed by a roadtrip to Provence. On our more recent trip to France in the French summer of 2022 we went on an epic road trip after another Paris stay.
This podcast chat is part 1 of a two episode sequence, as there is just too much to fit into one episode!
In this part 1 we’re exploring our arrival and stay in Paris pre our roadtrip, as well as our wonderful experiences that followed in the Loire Valley and down in the Pays Basque.
Tune in for our tips on travelling in France in extreme heat, accommodation musts and experiencing Paris like a local. We also chat about train travel to the regions, the gorgeousness of the Loire and Pays Basque... and the surprises that pop up along the way (like a potential house purchase!)
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
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Ashley Tinker is a Canadian now living in Provence. Back when she was aged 19 she was at art school in Italy and took a mini "vacances" in the south of France where she met her partner Englishman Robin as they were both staying in the same hostel.
Many years and a long-distance relationship later, they finally settled back in France together. Initially they became guardians of a run-down château but eventually bought and renovated a little cottage and now they're in the process of renovating a barn on a property in a village near St Rémy-de-Provence.
Ashley loves the lifestyle in Provence. The weather, the values, the history, the food and also the fresh seasonal produce. Eating by the seasons was a learning curve for Ashley but a way of life she now loves! The slow life of Provence has definitely captured her heart!
I have travelled and spent time in Provence both alone and with my husband Paul. My memories of the region are so beautiful and speaking to Ashley just made me want to get back there all the more quickly.
Sigh...
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelles FrancoFiles website
Cynthia Coutu is living what I think is my dream life! Although I’m sure it is nowhere as easy as she makes it seem! Canadian born Cynthia now lives in Paris whilst immersing herself in the world of champagne! After attending a French school in Canada, Cynthia came to Paris to complete a Master of Art History and decided to stay.
After her OECD career ended at age 50, she found a new pathway for herself with her brilliant business Delectabulles, involving two of my passions: one is furthering opportunities for women and the other is champagne! Cynthia hosts masterclasses, tours, tastings... loads of ways to connect with champagne as well as with some amazing women. I didn’t ask Cynthia for her fave champers. Instead, I love her perspective that champagne can turn every ordinary day into an extraordinary one!
Cynthia is a certified WSET Level 3 wine professional, she has been voted "Best Wine Tasting in Paris" by Expatriates Magazine in 2018, and "Best Wine Experience in Paris" by Travel and Hospitality Awards in 2020, and "Wine Expert of the Year" en 2021 by Luxury Travel Guide. Cynthia chatted to me about the technical side of champagne making, but through everything she does she instils a fabulous sense of fun. If going to France, it is well worth all champagne fans connecting with Delectabulles to turn your already memorable French vacances into an amazing lifetime memory to savour forever!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Website
The Loulabelle's FrancoFile's podcast is the place to come to keep your Frenchy vibes going without even leaving home! In each episode we chat with guests who live in Australia, in France and right around the world, to help stay connected to the FrancoFile within you!
This episode guest: Ingrid Colmer-Chavez
Ingrid Colmer-Chavez was born in Mexico and grew up in France. She moved around a lot as a child, but her family eventually settled in Brittany. After meeting her English husband James when working in Guernsey in the Channel Islands they decided to get married in France when they discovered they could get much more for their budget than in the UK. This sparked the idea of their business the Château Bee and they set about creating a directory of quality venues for residents of the Channel Islands who wanted to get married in one of the regions across the north of France. It has expanded now to include couples from around the world searching for a wedding venue in all corners of France!
Ingrid personally visits hundreds of wedding venues all across France and only choose the “crème de la crème” for the selection found on the Château Bee website. It’s like The Michelin Guide of wedding venues in France!
Tune into this chat for Ingrid's professional tips on planning a wedding in France. You may be surprised by what she thinks is the most important consideration for a loved-up couples wedding. We also hear about her fave food and French music as well as her idea of a perfect French day, her response was beautifully calming: to have a day where you take the time to have time. In other words, a day where she can feel "present in the moment" and connect with the places, people and activities that fill her soul.
I couldn't agree more...
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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The Loulabelle's FrancoFile's podcast is the place to come to keep your Frenchy vibes going without even leaving home! In each episode we chat with guests who live in Australia, in France and right around the world, to help stay connected to the FrancoFile within you!
This episode guest: Pam Plançon.
Pam Plançon has had a love affair with France for a veeeeeeery long time! Her grandfather was French and her connection to all things French started at a very early age.
Pam founded business Olive and Branch which is an online store selling French and French inspired products based in Connecticut. She and her husband bought a house in the south of France when her children were young meaning she could return there every year. She initially started Olive and Branch as an actual store coming from her love of Provençal pottery. Post COVID the store has turned online but Pam still returns to France, travelling the French countryside searching for pottery, soaps, linens as well as brocante.
Pam talks about France with such a warmth and a lovely familiarity. She has a vast knowledge of travelling in France and in this episode we chat about some tips for first timers to Paris as well as return travellers to France.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
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Yolaine Corbin's links:
Frenchilicious Kitchen
Melbourne AFL Grand Final day set menu: click here and mention Loulabelle's for a free gift!
Yolaine Corbin was born and grew up in Orleans south of Paris, but now describes herself as a "Frozzie"! That is a French born/Australian settled. Yolaine is the owner of fabulous French food company here in Melbourne “Frenchilicious Kitchen”. She’s a chef, an official Thermomix recipe creator and a maman to 3 gorgeous girls.
Growing up in Orleans Yolaine dreamed of travelling and tried to learn English by listening to pop music on the radio which was mostly in English! After her school years had finished she decided to take off to Australia to travel around for a year in order to get her English speaking to a proficient level. It was a struggle at times with the Aussie accent being so different to the UK accent she learned with back home growing up in France.
Yolaine now has a wonderful catering company specialising in French inspired dishes and lately she has taken a particular interest in Basque cuisine as well. But her food journey here in Australia was not always smooth. Yolaine didn't plan to work in the food industry initially but got a job at a French crêpery before taking off to travel around the country. Eventually Yolaine's year abroad in Australia was over and she had to return to France.
Yolaine felt there was unfinished business for her in Australia so she returned and lucky for us that she did!
In this Loulabelle's FrancoFiles papotage de podcast, we hear of Yolaine's food influences, how she entered and won a cooking competition on Australian television show The Chef's Line (SBS) which inspired her to open her own catering company as well as the challenges faced by being French in Australia, trying to keep her kids bilingual and maintaining her French connection herself.
Yolaine has a special offer for Loulabelle's FrancoFiles listeners:
Mention that you heard her on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast and she will throw in a bag of macarons with your order!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
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Episode 73
William Kornblum is the author of Marseille Port to Port.
Bill as he prefers to be called is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Graduate Centre at the City University of New York. He is also an author of many books but the one with a particular focus for us as Francophiles is Marseille Port to Port.
One review said Bill's writing showed he is "deeply committed to understanding the city’s layered history and contradictory energies. Every page, every photo resonates with his sense of wonder and his affection for 'a city that has seen more than its share of misery and brave struggle.' " Now… you don’t get a connection like that with a place without visiting or living there so in my podcast chat with Bill we unpacked this further!
My chat with Bill was warm and fascinating. He uncovered so much I didn't know about Marseille and much more than a guide book could ever share. I am now looking forward to exploring all Marseille offers for myself!
I often feel like old buildings almost talk to me about the past. I asked Bill what the buildings of Marseille say to him. His response has led me to a whole different way of considering the way history is shown through buildings. Bill talked about the buildings around the port which are newer, but can only be seen as so, on very close inspection. They were rebuilt in the 1950s after being decimated by German bombing in WW2. The new buildings now tell the story of the tragedy of what occurred during the war.
Bill spoke of "walking with no where necessarily to go" which just transported me to France. Tune into this chat and float away with us. Bliss.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles is hosted by Louise Prichard.
Other Loulabelle's links:
FrancoFile Fix on YouTube
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Episode 72
Christine Sheehy is a copy writer, ghost writer and a book coach now living in New Zealand. She has wanted to have a stint living in France ever since she spent some time there as an exchange student when she was 16. France remained unfinished business for her, with only a few visits between that early age and 2019.
Eventually Christine got there with her young family. The area of France she had chosen, purposefully didn’t have many English speakers and required the family to completely immerse themselves in the language. They got used to a new routine over the first six months and then Christine's husband returned to NZ with her staying on in France with their three children.
Christine and her family were still in France as the COVID-19 situation unfolded. Christine found the French around her area were very relaxed about the virus at first. Her husband was back in NZ but she wasn’t ready to give up her dream and wanted to stay. Slowly the world closed down and shut all borders. Christine’s little idyllic village in France was not immune. When France announced remote learning was to start for children, Christine shopped for a month worth of groceries and took her children on a hike incase they went into a total lock down for a while. At the top of the mountain during their hike, Christine and her kids reached a village. They read a plaque that was there, dedicated to the deaths in the village from the cholera outbreak in 1850. The similarities were striking and it must have seemed like a sign to start making plans to go.
Tune into theis chat with Christine to hear her fascinating story as well as her fave music and French food ideas.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles hosted by Louise Prichard.
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FrancoFile Fix on YouTube
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Recently I shrugged off the COVID vibes and took to the skies to get back to the place that holds my heart, France!
In the planning for l'été français I made arrangements to stay with ma belle amie Sarah Zwick from Be My Guest Immersions near Bayonne in southwest France. Bayonne is a medieval city not far from the more glitzy Biarritz close to the Atlantic coast, with a population normally in the tens of thousands. However for one weekend of the year the whole place explodes with over a million visitors descending on the area. The Fêtes de Bayonne is an experience like no other. It was pure coincidence that I was going to be there at the time of the festival so to prepare myself, I checked it out on line before leaving Australia. The first thing I noticed was a kind of uniform that was being worn. Every attendee was decked out in white with a red sash or cinta and scarf, so I ensured I had a variety of white clothes packed to get me through the days of the festival while I was there. When I arrived I asked Sarah's family what this event was like and what to expect apart from what I could see online. Her dad Jean Paul simply shrugged his shoulders in the wonderful French way and told me there are no words to describe the festival. One must just feel it. "You need to just live it and feel it", he said. After my first Fêtes, I now completely agree. The Basque spirit is contagious!
Tune into this wonderful chat with me and ma belle amie Sarah to hear all the gloriousness that is the Fêtes de Bayonne!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Episode 70 - Dreaming of a Château...
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Growing up Julia Leach had a dream of living in a huge historic building, a château, with everyone she loved in the one little community and she had the feeling this beautiful home was meant to be in France.
Julia had a dreamy, idyllic childhood which she describes as old fashioned. No screens, no TV, just old movies, books and lots of playtime. It felt very different from the way her peers were growing up. After high school Julia had a gap year backpacking around Europe including France, returning to college afterwards in New York City.
After graduating Julia worked her way into the film industry and fell in love with working on period pieces. This fed her need to connect with history but even though it was a wonderful career, the film industry takes a toll on lifestyle and work-life balance. Especially with both Julia and her partner Caroline working in the industry. Julia's sister was also working in NYC and living with Julia and Caroline.
And then COVID happened...
Like many people, COVID caused a complete re-evaluation of the way Julia and her family wanted to live their life. The three of them in NYC moved back west to live with Julia's parents in California. Living under one roof and together with all the family again led rise to a long held family dream of moving and living in France. Julia was seeking a slower more old fashioned way of life like she had dreamed of as a child.
Tune into this fascinating story of one family realising their dream and finding unexpected friends along the way. I felt refreshed as though I had truly had a mini-break in France after this beautiful petite papotage!
Go to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for all the links from the chat.
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Website
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website Hosted by Louise Prichard
Tune in to hear a sweet petit papotage de podcast between Lou and Cynthia Moos, founder and owner of Best French Forever. BFF is a subscription service (currently only available in the US) which delivers a box avec un petit peu de Provence right on your doorstep!
Cynthia Moos was born and raised in Provence. Whilst studying in the UK she met her now American husband and moved to the US. Now living in Colorado she is reminded of the sounds of Provence with the cicadas in the summer. But after a few years Cynthia wanted more connection with her homeland, she wanted to celebrate the crafts of Provence and share that with Francophiles everywhere, so she started her business Best French Forever.
Cynthia sources her products from the artisans or local brands in Provence, ensuring they are high quality, with a social conscience as well. BFF promotes inclusion and diversity, an end to racism, respect of women, environmental conservation and fair treatment for all. Cynthia has been really mindful that her business aligns with her own personal values.
Come with us to escape to Provence, hear of Cynthia's perfect day, and find out the secret of the slower pace of life in Provence.
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Right now the wonderful French Riviera city of Cannes is awash with glitz and glamour for the 75th Cannes Film Festival and I chatted to my belle amie Ruby Boukabou who is there this year about the most dynamic 2 weeks of her year!
Author, performer, tap dancer extraordinaire and all round amazingly talented Ruby loves that the festival is held in spring when it's lovely and warm, perfect for swimming to get away from all the pizzaz of the festival. But after having 2 affected festivals due to COVID in 2020 and 2021 I'm sure attendees this year will want to soak up every moment. Ruby tells us of her adventures this year as they're happening, but also of festivals gone by.
Tune into this gorgeously warm chat with Ruby to hear all about the nitty-gritty of the festival, the parties, the networking, as well as her rendez-vous with Tom! Cruise that is!
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Hosted by Louise Prichard
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more from Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles listeners that they are making plans to head to head back overseas and to France! It’s been such a long time since many of us have travelled that I thought an episode about travel tips to refresh our memories would be une idée fabuleux!
Tune into this chat for the things I always consider when planning a vacances en France including:
choosing your accommodation style,
time-saving and queue-skipping ideas,
creating itineraries,
the best place I've found to buy unlimited data sim cards in Paris,
*as well as loads of tips for regional France including train and car hacks not to be missed if planning your next French getaway!
Loulabelle's linksLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
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Hosted by Louise Prichard
Join Lou to escape to France momentarily through the wonderful stories of various Francophiles! Andrew Prior is a fabulous French foodie who some Australians will know from his time as a contestant on MasterChef some years ago, but now he is living his best life in a gorgeous pocket of France in the village of Montmorillon.
Like Lou, Andrew didn't travel until a little later in life during his 30s. On his first trip he went to Paris and just loved his 2 weeks there. He straight away felt a connection and loved French food. (Something here seems oddly familiar!!!) After this however Andrew's story takes a fabulous turn with his (now) husband spending a year studying in Paris. Andrew turned his back on his career in insurance underwriting and went with Peter to Paris. He had nothing to do but be a complete flâneur and mosey around the French capital for months on end! What an experience to immerse in French food, people watching, jardin meandering, café mooching and architecture gazing daily! Oooooh la la!
After this Andrew took another leap of faith and joined the prestigious club of MasterChef contestants. His journey there took him down another life path towards food and this time more specifically, his own business doing food tours. Andrew specialised in French food tours with his own Queenies Food Tours in Melbourne. How I wish I had have gone on a tour with him back then when he was still in Australia! He has also led some brilliant foodie tours in France.
Andrew has now moved back to France with his husband and 2 golden retrievers Lenny and Louis into the Nouvelle Aquitaine region. He has dived into French life and loves to pore over old French cook books, meander around gorgeous authentic country village markets and of course cook for his family and friends.
Tune in to hear Andrew's fascinating story, with lots of his faves thrown in!
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Hosted by Louise Prichard
As an addict of "château porn" as we call it in my house, I feel as if I already know Karen Horne who has been on the Escape to the Château DIY series (which is now known as simply Château DIY.)
Karen and her husband Paul had for many years spent weekends escaping to France and always loved exploring the little villages when they drove across from the UK. One day Paul brought home a little advertisement of a château for sale, they went across to check it out and it was love at first sight!
So the 17 year adventure began. They took a leap of faith, possibly with rose tinted glasses on but Karen says they have no regrets! Karen says that life is not about getting to the end of a rainbow with a pot of gold, but rather life is about living it, experiencing it and having the most amazing experiences you can recall for life! Wise words I reckon!
Now Karen has a website and Insta page Dream French Properties. I love to explore the villages on Google Earth and visit the regions virtually of the grand houses in her posts. I also try to guess the region of France just from the architecture before I find out where the property actually is!
Karen wishes that they had got to live there in their château as permanent residents, but one of the most rewarding things from the experience was the ability to dream and make their dreams happen. After listening to Karen, I'm reminded of the saying, if you can dream it you can do it! Life is short! Take that leap!
Join us for a wonderful warm papotage and escape to France with us momentarily xx
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Hosted by Louise Prichard
Lou chats to Bordeaux born and bred Alexandra Ganipeau who now lives in Melbourne Australia running an online business called The French Hack.
Growing up Alex always wanted to be bilingual so in her early 20s she headed to London, met and married an Aussie boy and the rest is history! How lucky for us Melburnians that she is here now too!
Every day on The French Hack there is a Pause Dej' (pronounced almost like postage or paws-tage) which is short for "pause dejeuner" a lunch break. The daily Pause Dej' is an hour and a half every day during the middle of the day Melbourne time, where members can drop in and have a real conversation online for the whole time or just part of it... whatever works for them!
Alex has generously offered for listeners of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast a free visit to The French Hack which can be found on the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website.
In my chat with Alex she shared the French perspective she had as a child, taking castles and quaint villages for granted. Now she sees the amazing beauty we all love about France and she loves sharing it all with her sons when she can get back to spend time in France with family and friends.
In this podcast chat we hear of one of the fave foods of French locals which is influenced by the spices of Northern Africa and the Middle East. Alex share's some great tips for a day out in Paris just as the locals like and we hear her 90s French pop influenced faves too!
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Kate Venter has always loved drawing. Her school books were always covered in creative doodling! So after a career in IT she made the decision to move into her own business designing party ware. But just prior to the recent COVID lockdowns she got her creative juices flowing further by moving more into the design side of things and immersed herself in her art with her Sambellina Studio.
Kate loves to draw buildings and has a fascination with architecture. Her travel and architecture inspired illustrations often take me away to Paris. She confesses to having a particular affection for illustrating cafes! She loves the shadows, the light and the different colour that buildings exude at different times of day.
In this lovely warm chat we hear all about how Kate creates an artwork, about her love of travel and of France and we get transported away with her description of her fave French day. With French recipes and music to quench the French vibes, join us for a little escape to France.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Hosted by Louise Prichard
Professor Emmanuel Josserand grew up in Montmartre but now resides in Sydney, Australia. He has worked around the world but it was "love" that kept him in Sydney! Very French he says!
In this warm and funny chat with Emmanuel he tells me about his life growing up in Montmartre with his grandparents who lived next door to uber famous singing sensation Dalida!
With Emmanuel it seems his connection to France is all about the food. Just like me! He loves the stinkiest cheese, chouquettes or pain au chocolat for petit-déjeuner and when in the countryside he and the family would all eat fresh bread and saucisson with fresh tomato from the garden. It just sounds so dreamy... take me away maintenant!
Come and escape to France momentarily with us and hear about going solo on the slopes of Chamonix, Michelin Star restaurants near Lyon and naked women in the streets of Montmartre in Emmanuel's childhood memories! Oooh la la!
Recettes from renowned chef George Blanc and musique by Dalida xx
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We often think of Paris as the beautiful tourist Mecca flooded with cutesie photo ops of flowers, promenades, cafes and gorgeous doors. But under all of that beauty is a rawness. A wonderful strength and determination to survive. I chatted to Parisian Lise Buisson Primaud whose family struggled through the war in ways most of us can’t or don’t want to imagine, but the after effects of the war lasted more than a generation. Hearing Lise talk about HER Paris really highlighted that for me. I’m so grateful to those courageous Parisians who didn’t give up. They’re one of the reasons why we still have the Paris we all adore today.
Tune in to hear Lise talk about her early story in post war Paris, growing up in Montparnasse in the 14th arrondissement. Whilst times were tough, she and her siblings never complained or wished for a different life. They had each other.
We find it hard to imagine this reality they all lived and whilst Lise says we shouldn't dwell on the difficult times, (one of the strategies she employs which assists her to be such an amazing survivor I think) it is important to remember this period of history to avoid being repeated.
Eventually Lise and her little family moved to Australia, but with her husband and her children Lise would visit and go back to France often.
Lise now teaches French in south east Melbourne, Australia.
Hear Lise's fave music by Jacques Brel and also traditional fave cuisine Les Rillettes.
www.LoulabellesFrancoFiles.com
Through this podcast I have met so many wonderful people and I have continued to be in awe of the generous spirit and beautiful connection I have had with guests. Some have become lovely friends. There's a kind of global French appreciation community of sorts, and it's chockablock with beautiful souls. If you’re on Instagram it is so worth following Katherine Burns’ account “Rue-Dauphine-Paris”. She has some wonderful suggestions of ways to stay connected to France. Meandering through her account is a lovely way to lose half an hour on a lazy afternoon!
I had a chat with Katherine to find out her French faves as well as some tips from her as an experienced and repeat traveler to Paris. I was very excited to hear that she is headed back there in May so I look forward to her photos once she's there!
I asked Katherine what is so special about Rue Dauphine and Paris for her. She also gives some fabulous travel tips.
For anyone going to France at the moment it is crucial to talk to a travel agent and to your airline about any COVID rules or requirements. They can change swiftly so ensure you get up-to-date info about your own individual circumstances.
With recommendations for Paris and regional France plus sweet French music and recipe ideas to keep connected to our fave destination! Tune in and escape to Paris with us momentarily!
www.LoulabellesFrancoFiles.com
Julia Fulford-Kirby had loved France since visiting as a child and followed her dream with a little help from the popular series Escape to the Château DIY.
Julia was born in Australia and moved to England as a young person and the Francophile seed was sewn on holidays to France back then. Julia describes France as a magical place and I completely agree! She always knew when the time came to buy a property in France that it would be an old building. She scoured the internet for over a year and eventually came to France with 2 of her sisters to see them in person. The search started for a traditional farmhouse but rather quickly their search upgraded to château hunting! Beware though! Whilst your dollar will go a long way in purchasing a property, renovating in France is not cheap. Ensure you leave enough in your pot of money for the improvements you want or need to make, especially if restoring an historical property.
In this podcast papotage, listen to Julia chat about how she found her dream property, previously owned by a famous French artist, in the Lot region of south western France. Julia felt instantly a warm, enveloping, homely connection to Mas de Pradié and that also comes across in the Escape to the Château series.
The most beautiful thing I heard from Julia was how this move to France to restore a château has been so very rewarding for her. Previously she had a lovely life but she was molding her life to fit with other people. Now she feels she is living her true life, the life that is in her heart. I think this is something many more people are looking for inspiration to find, after the COVID period we've lived through... the life we truly want to lead.
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Episode 58
I often wonder about the way I view French culture and consider how the things France is famous for might be viewed by the French!
Today I chatted to our fave French correspondent Sarah Zwick from Be My Guest Immersions about the French perspective of wine. Not the expert perspective but how wine is seen culturally by ordinary French citizens.
In this gorgeous petite "papotage" Sarah and I chat about the winemakers as artisans, a little about the history of wine in France, and we touch on the way the terroir is of profound importance.
Some people look upon French wine as just an investment. I have seen a couple of documentaries that showed how French wine is becoming increasingly popular as an investment purchase, but for me I love to savour and taste it too much to let it sit in the bottle forever! Somethings are worth more than money to me, and the memories created with friends in France or even in Australia for that matter whilst sharing a bottle of wine are often in my opinion, priceless.
Regardless of me getting all emotionally connected to the wine, it's a huge industry in France with wine being enjoyed and sold all over the world and employs loads of people. Sarah has family friends with a vineyard and has worked with them before. I loved hearing her chat about that time and I now plan to be in France for les vendanges, the harvest. After a couple of hours work in the morning the workers have a second breakfast with un verre du vin rouge!
So settle in with a verre du vin rouge ou blanc and join us for a little journey to the vineyards of France!
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In Christmas week I was very excited to chat to Emily Gaudichon who has joined me for a petit papotage on the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles podcast previously right back in episode 20. Emily is on Instagram as The Real Emily in Paris. I've always wanted to go to France for Christmas so it was wonderful to chat to her and find out the low down for Christmas in Paris!
Emily spoke about some of the traditions in France such as Christmas Eve being the biggest celebration and Santa coming that night. I loved hearing her chat about the decorations in all the stores and the famous Christmas markets. From what Emily says the photos I'm seeing on Instagram at the moment showing that every corner of Paris has been Christmas-ified is exactly what it feels like to her!
Now as I said to Emily I love Christmas and I love Christmas in Australia as to me it means time spent with my family. But I am longing to one day spend Christmas in France. After chatting to Emily I want to experience the lights and festivities in both Paris and the country French villages. I want to visit the Christmas markets and have mulled wine from a little caravan in les jardins! In this gorgeous festive chat you can hear all about loads of these Chrissy French traditions and more.
There is so much on my Christmas list that I'd like to see and do when I eventually spend a Christmas in Paris or France, I may need to go back multiple times! For this year though I will make a mulled wine and dream of future Christmases en français!
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Miriam Eckerle loves flowers, her cats and France. She was troubled with how to enjoy all three at once so made the life changing decision to pull up stumps from her home in Indiana in the US and move to the Charente region in France with her husband Jon.
Miriam and Jon discussed for many years the idea of retiring in France, so they would spend hours scrolling through real estate websites. Eventually they found one, did a virtual tour with the realtor (including a virtual drive through the village!) and decided this was the one! Without even stepping foot on site! The house met lots of their criteria: not too isolated, near a Plus Beaux Villages de France, not too big, not too small, with a lovely garden and in an area with quite a lot of English speakers.
Miriam has cousins in the Charente area near to her new home. A bonus is that these cousins have a vineyard! A FrancoFiler's dream! Well this FrancoFiler anyway! Miriam talks about being with her cousins as children, playing in a deserted château. I can imagine with strong family ties and beautiful childhood memories, the pull to move to France would be strong.
Miriam is craving the simple quiet life. She talked about being able to walk out the front door to go on a long walk or bike ride. Opening the shutters in the morning and hearing the village come to life. She would like to spend the day wandering the streets of Bordeaux, sit and have coffee and watch the world go by. It sounds beautiful to me. Simple pleasures to fill a FrancoFiler's soul.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Katherine Watt has lived and worked in many countries around the world but it has been Paris that has captured her heart! So four years ago she made the leap to resign from her job and move to France. Where to start with a leap like this?!?! That's what I wanted to find out!
Katherine started by drawing a line in the sand with the end date for her job. She planned three years ahead and told her boss she would be resigning. Katherine had stayed in Montmartre and even in the apartment she is in now during the period before she moved permanently.
During lockdown, Katherine loved being in the Montmartre area where she found a little community in her 1km zone. Being surrounded by the beauty of Montmartre was food for her soul during that tough time when travel and connecting face-to-face with family was not possible.
Moving to a new country across the world is not without its challenges. In this chat I heard about how Katherine has formed beautiful friendships with neighbours and regulars to her fave jazz clubs and local cafés. We hear all about her Paris faves as well as a bit about her book "Ninon and Me at the Grand Comptoir", her cooking and now painting experiences too.
I found talking to Katherine quite inspirational. It helped remind me that there is no time limit on finding yourself. No limits on who you can "be" through life and no limit to finding who you truly are. Katherine's more Parisian way of thinking has made her realise there can be a different way to view the world.
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So this week saw exiting news in the Aussie Francophile world... the Embassy of France in Australia launched a new website Sacreblue!
I was super excited that the Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles podcast was asked to come on board for the new platform, which is dedicated to bringing together all institutions, organisations and individuals who create cultural and intellectual bridges between France and Australia.
The website will feature regular contributions and highlights of my LFF articles and podcast eps! There will be news, in-depth articles, podcasts and events on French cinema, performance, arts, gastronomy, ideas, science, language, fashion, sport and much more.
After the excitement of the launch I was thrilled to meet and chat to Boris Toucas. He is the Head of Culture, Science and Education at the Embassy of France in Australia and a career diplomat. He previously served as a political counsellor at the embassy of France in the United States and as a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Before that, he served at the French MFA headquarters in Paris.
Boris works with everything not political and not economic at the Embassy, so all the fun stuff! He focuses on creating opportunities for Australians to know more about France and also for French nationals in Australia to stay connected to their culture. Cultural bonds are important and after talking to Boris I can see that the links being created between the people of France and Australia will be positive and strong. Sacreblue! has the opportunity now to connect Australians with France who have never known much about French culture.
In this LFF ep we will hear all about how Boris came from being a boy in his home town of La Rochelle to travelling the world and being a leader in the Embassy. He spent a few years in the US before coming to Australia. He is so widely travelled having been to almost 70 countries!
I was fascinated to hear the faves Boris shared, his favourite foods, regions to explore, French music and so much more! As well as his detailed understanding of France, which is helping us all fall in love with French culture through the new website Sacreblue!
www.LoulabellesFrancoFiles.com
Kerry Milligan appears on our Australian televisions each week on Gogglebox. I loved chatting to Kerry about another aspect of her life which is her connection to France.
Kerry has always felt very connected to Ireland due to her Irish heritage but a punk party in a Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in 1981 changed her world. She met her French husband and started a journey uncovering all the wonderfulness of France from an "insiders" perspective rather than as a tourist.
When Kerry's daughter was 14 the little family went to live in France for a year and Kerry has had further stints over there since.
Kerry has such a wonderful warmth and genuine transparency. Talking with her made me feel a beautiful connection to "her" France. It opened my eyes and my imagination further to the way daily French life would be for us as Australians if we're ever lucky enough to be living over there.
Kerry worried when her marriage to a Frenchman ended that her connection to France would wain. But what she found eventually was that her link to France was a connection of her very own and not just through her husband. She found that she herself belonged to France.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Abby Dobson and Lara Goodridge are the sassy, talented, wonderful women behind the ARIA nominated French singing duo Baby et Lulu. The band name came about from their nicknames as Abby is often called "Baby" and Lara "Lulu", so the name just seemed to fit!
J'adore their music, singing exclusively en français so I decided to seek them out for a chat. I thought why not share their loveliness that shines through beautifully in our petite podcast papotage with all our Loulabelle's FrancoFiles community!
They have been described as a sublime faux-French sensation, sexy, romantic and classic. Whenever I’m listening to their latest album, the music transports me away to France in such a gorgeous way. In my mind I can imagine I'm in the Caveau de la Huchette in Paris in the jazz basement or somewhere just as fabulous! I just float away!
It was on a visit to Paris that they both discovered their love of the French language. Lara had a just bought a book of "naughty" French stories! Et voilà! A short stint singing together in French at a warehouse party back in Australia and "Baby et Lulu" was born. Both women had found a new love in immersing in chanson and as Abby said to me, she had finally discovered what she wanted to do "when I grow up"!
Hear the lovely warm chat about their music, their fave things about France as well as one of their original songs with a wonderfully dreamlike quality.
Join us to escape to France momentarily xx
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
My belle amie Karen has travelled numerous times to France (quite a lot avec moi!) and has twice stayed in the Champagne region. I'm so jealous as unfortunately a trip planned for my old school friends and I was called off in 2020 in the week we were supposed to depart. We're all getting used to that in the time of COVID but hopefully we'll get there eventually!
Karen is the best researcher I know when it comes to travel! When I was planning the ill-fated 2020 shenanigans and was going to the Champagne Region, Karen was my first contact to find out all her brilliant tips for a stay in that spot.
I love the Madame Bollinger quote about champagne…
She was asked when do you drink champagne?
"I drink it when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I am alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it when I’m not hungry. I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it, unless I am thirsty…"
I also love what Madame de Pompadour is supposed to have said that “Champagne is the only drink that leaves a woman still beautiful after drinking it”. Now that’s good enough for me!
The champagne region is the place that conjures images of the bubbles that accompany many of our celebrations. Karen and I had a gorgeous weekend “sweetie darling” in Paris a couple of years ago in 2018 where we worked through a wonderful list of all the places she had researched that we could drink champagne in Paris. So we went to traditional bars, amazing little holes in the walls, pop up restaurants, cafes by the river, and all the time we never more than a glow of wonderfulness, such is the amazing quality of champagne!
Recently I have re-watched the wonderful little doco with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley from Ab Fab called Absolutely Champers. They start in London, in the champagne bar at the TGV station at St Pancras which has 120 Varieties of champagne and is the longest champagne bar in Europe. Karen and I have never started a trip there, we’ve always started in Paris together, so I think we will definitely start there some day in the future.
Hear all our tips for staying in the Champagne region as well as some fascinating history, plus some recommendations for docos too.
So pour a glass of bubbly, or un coupe de champagne and come and escape with us to France!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I loved chatting to Laura Morelli as she had numerous fabulous stories to tell, both French and otherwise! Laura is an Art Historian with a PhD from Yale. She is a best selling and award winning historical novelist, in addition to authoring numerous guidebooks for travellers having lived in 5 countries! She often highlights Venice in her work and even though this is a blog for devotees to France, I don’t know any FrancoFilers who don’t love Venice! Laura and I shared our experience and love of Murano glass! She also has some wonderfully inspiring French connections.
Laura shared her story of her first visit toFrance as a pre-teen and how she then returned eventually to study and live there as an adult for 4 years. I was carried away by the story of an old couple Laura stayed with during one period in France. They were in the French Resistance during the war and their story has stayed with her and assisted with her connections to characters in her books at times too.
So most French obsessed people I know speak about their love of museums and art when they talk of what they like to see when they visit Paris (and sometimes also broader France). Hearing Laura speak about various museums and artists just made me more determined to get back to France as soon as we can!
Hear all the beautiful French details about galleries, artisans, art history and French life in this sweet and lovely chat.
Come and escape to France with us momentarily xx
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Recently I have started thinking about what my next vacances in France will look like and about my list of places to visit that I haven’t yet been to. The top of that list is Lyon!
So why Lyon? Well for regular listeners to the podcast you will know I have inherited much of my love of France from my dear Papa. I even chatted to my dad in LFF episode 29 about some of his fave places to visit in France. One that he often mentions to me that he would love to return to is Lyon and I know I have always loved every place he has recommended to me!
Hear about the history of Lyon, the secret passageways or traboules, the gastronomic and famous wine regions, and loads of other wonderful reasons why Lyon should be your next French destination!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
In Australia watching the Olympic Games recently in 2021 was a relief for many of us in lockdown. The Paralympics is on as I write this blog and I find myself often overcome with emotion at the perseverance and inspirational stories of so many of the competitors.
I was fascinated to hear in this podcast chat from ma belle amie Sarah Zwick about the main sports that France excels at. This year in the recent Olympic Games France medalled in a variety of events including handball, judo and fencing. Sarah thinks the fencing prowess could be a left over from the Three Musketeers or Les Trois Mousquetaires! It may be the importance placed on fencing through history in France however. It was once a way to become a noble and was also compulsory for soldiers at one point in history too. Good fencers were almost like celebrities in their day!
I discovered through talking about this topic with Sarah that the Olympic Games whilst sometimes just referred to as "the Olympics" or even just "the games" in English, in French it is always called "Les Jeux Olympiques".
In France, excitement is building for the next Olympics in 2024 in Paris, exactly 100 years since it was last in my favourite city!
Hear all about the plans for the next Jeux Olympiques, as well as stories of inspirational French women athletes and the French founder of the modern Olympics.
With a topic that could have just been a dry recitation of knowledge, this podcast "papotage" is actually a lovely chat with observations of life, plus learnings of the way a modern institution brings us all joy.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Molly Wilkinson has loved pastry all her life. After a brief visit to France during her College years, & also after working 9-5 in the US for a number of years (which she loved by the way!) Molly decided to follow her passion for baking and explored options to go to the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris!
Initially the idea was quite scary and Molly thought there would be lots of obstacles but in reality, furthering her training in cooking was more economical in Paris than in the US! She could rent an apartment in Paris, go to the famous Cordon Bleu school in the steps of Julia Child and eat French pastries in Paris every day whilst she was learning to make French pastries herself!
Molly now lives in Versailles (no not the Château!) teaching cooking classes online and has just penned her brand new cookbook.
For FrancoFilers who are into French pastry, following Molly's adventures will not leave you disappointed! In fact Molly's enthusiasm for everything she does is infectious! I loved seeing France through her eyes. Molly chatted to me about her visit to regional areas including the Dordogne, the Loire and Normandy. Her energy and joie de vivre is just beautiful. This chat really transported me to France momentarily!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I love how loads of my and Paul's friends are mad about France just like us!
Kate Bryant has been a friend of my partner Paul for over 30 years and had her first experience in France with a family for whom she nannied back in her 20s. The love of the fresh food, the slower pace of life and all things French has never left her.
Kate chats to me about some memories of staying in the Luberon in the south of France. With a special focus on a barge holiday where she traveled from Béziers to Trèbes along the Canal du Midi with 9 friends. I have always wanted to enjoy a barge holiday! I've wanted to do this way before I saw Rick Stein's French Odyssey, but that series definitely whetted my appetite! Kate told us about the intricacies of barge life, with some terrific tips. It is clear that it is loads of fun and relaxing too as Kate painted an idyllic picture, floating along between villages on the Canal du Midi...
Join Loulabelle for a gorgeously warm chat. With a French recipe and some French music, you will feel like you have momentarily escaped to France!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
My conversation with gorgeous Carole Handel, writer of blog French Views and her wonderfully enthusiastic cycling husband Chris definitely got our Frenchy vibes going! As Carole said to me afterwards, we were ready to pack our bags and jump on a plane after our chat… if only we could. We will get there eventually though.
We chatted about Chris and Carole's cycling adventures in various regions like the Loire, Provence and in places suitable for beginners as well as more advanced riders. We also spoke about visits both of us have made to Villers-Bretonneux and other shared experiences such as visits to historic markets, fabulous French food and music.
A beautiful warm chat between 3 French obsessed Francophiles!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
J'adore catching up with my belle amie Sarah Zwick from Bayonne in south-west France! I was fascinated to hear her French perspective of Bastille Day celebrations. In France, Bastille Day is not Bastille Day! Not even le jour de la Bastille! It is always referred to as "quatorze juillet in France. Sarah had never heard it called Bastille Day until she came to live in Australia for a while!
Celebrating Bastille Day/14 juillet is important right across the nation in France, to remember the history but also to celebrate France as it is today with family and friends. Each year there is a theme for 14 juillet and this year it was "La Liberté".
Hear about the history as the kids in France learn it, the celebrations, the food (it's summer in France and Sarah is cooking from her jardin!) and the music with a special performance from this year's Paris concert by brilliant trumpet player Ibrahim Maalouf.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Lindy Viandier chatted to me about her journey from being a nurse in Wales to renovating a 300 year old maison with her French husband in Burgundy.
Lindy recalls her mother wearing ‘Evening in Paris’ perfume when she was a child. It came in a tiny midnight blue flacon. The label had the French translation, ‘soir de Paris’ and the name ‘Bourjois’. Lindy said, "To me this was the height of glamour and fuelled my desire to visit Paris, so when I had the opportunity to visit aged 17, I was thrilled and immediately fell under her spell."
Skip over a lifetime in between and Lindy's daughter requested to have a French exchange student come stay. It turned out to be a cultural exchange with both the teenager and her father who Lindy ended up marrying!
They now live between Paris and Burgundy, although Lindy is spending much more time in the country house these days. Lindy has called the house ‘Les Libellules’ meaning dragonflies as the house has a pond with an abundance of wildlife.
Lindy chatted to me about her experience renovating her 300 year old home. As an avid viewer of Escape to the Chateau DIY I was hanging on every word! Lindy said, "let’s just say insects feature heavily, as do crumbling walls, and some interesting discoveries." Lindy felt connected to the house straight away, love at first sight, right from when she saw a photo on a property website.
Hear Lindy's suggestions for choosing a property in France and more about how her life has changed from a very fast-paced existence in a major city, to living in a sleepy little hamlet where one could walk from one end to the other in ten minutes! The friendships she has made, the sense of strong community in the French countryside, the living without almost all mod cons a whilst renovating the house, living an almost entirely French life married to a Frenchman. Her journey is fascinating and beautifully familiar at the same time. Maybe that's just because I've dreamed about such a life so often in my own mind!
With a regular LFF feature of a French recipe and some French music, this is a wonderfully warm chat to help feel as if you've momentarily floated to France.
Bonne journée et à bientôt mes amis.
Loulabelle xx
www.LoulabellesFrancoFiles.com.au
J'adore chatting to my favourite French chick Sarah Zwick (from Be My Guest Immersions in the Basque region of south-west France).
Having Sarah's unique perspective of Le Tour as she recalls details from her childhood as well as well-known particular culturally significant rituals that accompany Le Tour from the French perspective, is a wonderful insight.
Hear our lovely chat about the "caravan de Le Tour", the lengths the French will go to view the race first hand, as well as music devoted to the whole event and a special original recipe from Loulabelle that is sure to become a firm favourite.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
This was such a beautifully honest chat, quite raw in places. I felt an instant warm connection to Christine Betts.
I have loved following Christine on social media for some time. Her posts connect me to Paris in a variety of ways. She is an author who has written a number of books set in Paris and has a particular style of writing that I find fascinating, with the meshing of historical fact and fiction with a bit of time travel mixed in.
Christine mentioned that her stories always have an old building/chateau/maison in the centre of the narrative. I have always felt that historical buildings have "talked" to me. I thought I was alone with this! Every time I'm in France I imagine who has been there before me and feel a lovely connection to the past.
I was amazed that Christine started to write when she was only 10, penning her first book at that time. She mentioned in one post I read that she wrote about a friend who had passed to ease the grief, so the loss wouldn't be so complete. As a reader I was quite affected by this one comment bringing me to tears. What a wonderful gift to help readers to find a new perspective with grief...
With music from Nouvelle Vague and chats about fabulous French food and regions to visit, this is a gorgeous chat about books, France, food and the joie de vivre!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Spring cleaning is a time of uncovering many new things and fabulous old memories!
Recently our regular French correspondent from south-west France, Sarah and I talked about her finds when she was renovating her home in the Basque region.
The story of how she came across the book of a particular child from over a century ago in her attic and learned of his involvement in the Great War is fascinating. The connection is amazing, especially in her own home! Knowing the periods of history that have occurred over the last few hundred years, and finding info about the people who lived in your home during such times as the Nazi occupation of France or the Revolution is crazy!
In this episode we heard of the story of a little boy who lived in Sarah's house a generation or two before her family, as well as how plantings in the garden from that time or earlier are still benefitting her family now!
Now that le printemps has turned into l'été the time has changed from cleaning and opening up, to celebrating!
Sarah let us non-Frenchies into a little secret of the last night of any summer festivals, the Bal de Pompier! (the fire fighters' ball)
The fire fighters originally had to keep manning their post during the 14th July festivities since the Revolution. Back in 1806 they decided they wanted to have fun too! So they started a little party. It became so popular that every last night of a festival is now called Le Bal de Pompier!
I love these traditions that have come down through the generations in France and the knowledge of it only comes out when having a relaxed convo with friends, like this one with Sarah.
Sarah reported how this is such a cultural phenomenon that grandparents have reported to their grandchildren that they met "their grand-mere at the bal de pompier!"
Listen to the gorgeously warm chat and feel completely connected to France. A fabulous French recipe and new French music to experience are also included in the chat.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Author Catherine Berry fascinated me with her story of her journey to live a French life with her family.
Catherine made the decision to only speak French to her infant son which prompted her and her husband to pull up stumps and head to France to live.
When her children were aged 6, 9 and 12 they moved to France with no work planned and no support network. They had a house arranged and found a l'école for les enfants but the rest was a fabulous adventure! They chose to live in or around Annecy near the Swiss border, rather than Paris or a main city. They wanted to feel a part of a community and immerse themselves in a town not too big, but not too small.
I loved hearing the story of how the children settled into school, how they found houses to rent and the challenges of buying property. Catherine's tips for making such a purchase will prove invaluable to FrancoFilers who are planning to make that leap at some stage! There were some difficulties such as finding accommodation, buying a car, understanding the school stationery list, driving on the right side of the road (but the wrong for us Australians) and even doing research without an Internet connection. But then that was followed up with delightful highlights: being surrounded by mountains, in the middle of which was a lake and a town with canals, old stones, disorder, colourful markets, strange opening hours and different light and smells.
Listen to the wonderfully engaging chat with Catherine and Loulabelle!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Thomas Pesquet would never have dreamed as a small child in Dieppe Normandy, that he would become a household name in France as their most well known astronaut and probably the most famous astronaut in Europe.
I loved chatting to my wonderful friend Sarah Zwick from Be My Guest Immersion about Pesquet, hearing about him from the perspective he's known in France.
Pesquet graduated as an Air France pilot first and then studied to become an astronaut. He was selected to train with the European Space Agency in 2008. He spent 196 days in space in 2017 and has returned to the International Space Station earlier this year.
We listen to one of Pesquet's favourite tunes from his own Spotify list. He recently released the new Cold Play song Higher Power from up in space, so music is clearly an interest for him as well as photography. Sarah told me how he took over 25,000 photographs of Earth from space!
With a recipe from Pesquet's home town of Dieppe, this is a fascinating chat of a French icon seen through French eyes.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I am always looking for ways to keep my connection with France alive whilst I'm not on French soil.
Beeta Hashempour is the creator of Mon Petit Four, which has been voted as one of the #1 French food blogs in the world and one of the top Parisian lifestyle blogs of 2019!
Everyday receiving the très fabuleux emails with recipes and tips from Mon Petit Four brings a sparkle to my day!
In my wonderfully warm chat with Beeta it was lovely to hear about her first trip to Paris a decade or so ago. It was also terrific to hear that I'm not alone with my perspective of love at first sight for the city of Paris! Beeta had the same reaction when she emerged from a Paris Metro station for the first time!
On that trip Beeta discovered a love of French food and after her return home she started deconstructing and demystifying French food for friends which soon grew to service Francophiles everywhere! Now Mon Petit Four has a vast following and also offers a brilliant membership section Everyday France.
Beeta now splits her time between the US and Paris, and looks forward to returning after COVID. She will be returning to Paris in September 2021 with members from her Everyday France membership and I can't wait to follow her travels from here in Australia!
This episode includes a number of très délicieux recipes and a brief sojourn into wonderful French jazz!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I love looking through Instagram, dreaming of long days and beautiful holidays in France! Sometimes I end up following particular accounts more than others and the way they portray their version of France just "clicks" with me. This was the case with Emily Lawrence Gazal.
I messaged her and asked if I could chat to her about her French life and got much more than I bargained for! Emily is a warm and generous Aussie originally from Bondi who has moved her family with her three children to Paris. I was fascinated by her story and loved our beautiful chat.
With important notes for any FrancoFilers considering moving with children to France, chats about French street food, music from brilliant young French artist Angèle and gorgeous mental images of a French life, this episode will satisfy any francophile who is pining for a French getaway!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
France through the eyes of a teenager is a multi-layered and amazing experience! The food, the sights, the shopping... all with a different perspective.
I have travelled with my children in France a number of times. Each visit has been so wonderfully rewarding and the ability to look back together on our experiences has bonded us closer together as they grow older.
I chatted to my youngest son Fraser in this podcast episode about his recollections of our travels. He is such a keen traveler. He and I are always planning our next trip somewhere!
We first travelled to France as part of a big European tour for our family back when he was still in primary school! We met up with 20 of our family in Paris and spent a week together there. We saw all the big touristy things but even though he was only in Grade 5, Fras remembers many more intricate details of our time there. Interestingly other children from our family who attended with us on this trip who were a little younger don't have the same clarity of memory. They also didn't have the stamina to power through the day as Fraser did at about age 10 or 11. That is an important consideration if FrancoFilers are planning to travel with younger children.
After a week together, we left Paris by train and travelled with the huge family group to Chinon in the Loire Valley where the little kids all had much more freedom than in Paris.
We attended the Motocross of Nations which would never have been considered without a young boy pulling his "one choice of the holiday" card. A brilliant and unforgettable day!
We then drove across to Villers-Bretonneux which is a very special place for Australians visiting France.
My Fraser had another very unique and significant experience in Paris as a young teenager with the opportunity to explore Paris for a day with some other teens sans parents! How many kids get to hang out in Paris with their mates for the day!?!?
Hear some French rap music and get the lowdown on the best food for teens in Paris!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
In 2017 I was fortunate enough to take part in a most amazing and life changing trip on an immersion to France.
In this episode of the podcast, you will be guided through the winding roads and petit villages, bringing alive the local rustic-ness I discovered in the Dordogne.
This episode will have the most impact listening on one device and accessing Google Earth on another. Or if you’re wonderfully tech-savvy you may be able to access them both at the same time on the same device! Once in each village, pause the podcast chat to get down on the Google Earth ground and have a virtual walking tour around the town, then re-start the podcast to move on!
We will visit:
Monpazier
La Roque-Gageac
Domme
Rouffignac
Cadouin
Vézac - Les Jardins de Marqueyssac
Come and enjoy a lazy afternoon meandering the Dordogne with Loulabelle - a most picturesque, historic and welcoming part of our favourite destination, France! With French music and chats about the regions food, you will feel like you've had a lovely vacances en France!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I have travelled to France numerous times with ma belle amie Karen Grooby.
At home in Australia we try to keep our FrancoFile hearts satisfied with activities like French yoga, French themed festivals and restaurants, as well as cooking French food for our friends. Annually we also attend the Melbourne Alliance Français French Film Festival!
We have been to opening night a few times before at the Astor, which always has a wonderful party atmosphere and a chance to see one of the best French Films showing during the festival. I love to eaves drop on all the conversations at the after party as there are so many native French speakers there. I can get my fix and pretend I’m at a party in Paris for the evening! The Astor is such a beautiful grand old theatre it makes it even easier to daydream about France when we’re there!
This year although we didn’t attend the opening Karen went to see three French movies that she recommends ands we chat about in this episode:
Eiffel - Délicieux - Antoinette dans les Cévennes
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Nathalie Foos has encouraged my love of France for the last decade or so at her French immersion school "A French Journey" in Melbourne, Australia.
Nathalie was born in Marseille in the south of France, and spent some of her childhood in Saumur in the Loire Valley as well.
I loved chatting with Nathalie about her memories of France, about taking her own children back there to live for a time and also reminiscing about our own travels together there.
Nathalie spoke about the villages she adores, what a perfect day would look like for her in France and her favourite memories. Her description of the stages of a French lunch is lovely, enabling me to picture it so clearly I felt I was back there momentarily! Just what I needed right now when I can't be there myself!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
France has many wonderful traditions. I am joined in this episode by our favourite French correspondent Sarah Zwick from Be My Guest Immersions in the Pays-Basque region of South West France. Sarah spends her time talking about France and connecting with francophiles every day through her online French classes. I can personally recommend her as a current French speaking teacher who is amazingly dedicated to her students! Including me!
Back to the traditions...
Easter in France is called Pâques. The French word Pâques comes from the Latin word “pascha”, meaning “Passover”, which comes from the Hebrew “Pesah” which is the Jewish name for the Passover celebration, that is celebrated on Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday. So Easter en français is Pâques!
France has a strong Catholic history and Easter is celebrated avec grand enthusiasm! Hear about the traditions that are particular to France and even to various regions including a festival that is almost 600 years old in Bayonne in South West France.
1462 was the first year of the Foire au Jambon held near Bayonne in the Pay-Basque region near the Spanish border. Malheureusement it was cancelled in 2020 and in 2021 it has been postponed to later in the year due to COVID, the first time it has ever not been held in spring since it commenced. During the Pâques period, the festival would showcase local producers and they would offer their ham to be sampled and a vote would take place.
Easter occurs in the spring in France and the spring holidays - vacances des printemps - are synonymous with Pâques.
Take a quick trip to France with this immersion into one of the culture's oldest traditions.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
In the pre-COVID world when we took the freedom of travel for granted, my partner Paul and I meandered around Provence and met some amazing like minded people who have remained firm friends. Tammy and Mike Melo were among nos nouveaux amis we are now so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet.
Tammy and Mike from Vancouver Canada were on their Honeymoon which turned into a French odyssey!
I met Tammy at the Provence cooking day, a life altering experience and a beacon amongst my memories during this period of history when travel is so problematic if trying to get to Europe from Australia.
Tammy chatted with me about her love of French food, she reminded me of the highlights of our cooking day and she shared more tidbits of her holiday with Mike such as their dinner at amazing restaurant Chevre D'Or on the French Riviera. From that gorgeous opulence to the rustic loveliness of L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue where we shared aperitifs overlooking the canals of the French "little Venice", the chat with Tammy took me right back to France momentarily.
Hear about Tammy's love of French food, ideas for keeping Frenchy ideas going with home décor, as well as book and music recommendations.
Merci ma belle amie Tammy xx
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
My fascination with France has been inherited from my darling Dad. I have been so very fortunate to travel to Paris and regional France with Papa, and still learn French with him now, home in Australia. An afternoon in the garden together at his house, with French music in the background and lovely chats en français is my idea of a weekend well spent. Our shared love of France has been a wonderful way for us to remain close as we grow through life.
On one holiday in Paris, I was thrilled to share an evening with Papa at a jazz club in which my beautiful childhood friend Wendy Lee Taylor was performing. Wendy invited Papa up on stage as he is quite a gifted musician. Being in a jazz club in Paris and seeing my dad and my lovely friend on stage together is a lifetime memory I will always cherish!
Papa has travelled to France many times and in this podcast episode he chats to me about a couple of places that are still on my wish list for future visits, the Canal Saint Martin and Mont Saint Michel. We also talk about his favourite region of France, his fave foods and his love of French music which is how his Francophile passion started.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I loved connecting with Ruby Boukabou again in this podcast episode! She has such an amazing energy! I always leave a chat with Ruby feeling like I can take on the world and simultaneously that I've had a beautiful Parisian experience. In this chat Ruby talked about how she has stayed busy during COVID, from writing her book The Architecture Lover's Guide to Paris to her tap shack in Sydney and memories of tap dancing on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim!
Something I hadn't thought of before, Ruby mentioned to me that Paris is a future focused city and Parisians are very conscious of their environmental situation in the world. I have often noticed in Paris how they implement a staggered planting program where young trees are planted in between older trees, so there is a plan of succession.
I was enthralled with Ruby's new book, The Architecture Lover's Guide to Paris. With chapters on Paris history, train stations, museums, walking tours, itineraries, a variety of architecture styles or as Ruby puts it "a mixed palette",
I was reminded when talking with Ruby about concerts in churches (the acoustics are out of this world!) about the significance of Haussmann Paris, about stopping to really connect with our surroundings whether in a large city or in regional France.
While I can't travel to France, I'm going to do a walking tour of some of my fave parts of Paris - the two islands in the Seine and the Marais. Using Google Maps or Google Earth to explore at my own pace and focus on the places that feed my soul is something I'm excited about.
Join us on a little sojourn to Paris and hear some terrific French musique as well.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
I found Krystal Kenney to be beautifully warm . Krystal is an author, a photographer and artist. She has her own podcast and also to provides us all with some wonderful online live Paris tours. Now Krystal is based in Paris full-time, living in the 18th arr of Montmartre and loving it!
Krystal's memoir, Paris, A Life Less Ordinary describes her journey to the life she now leads in Paris. I've often imagined what that would be really like... to take off and live in Paris with no idea of when I would return, if at all. I wonder if it might be freeing, or terrifying, or a little bit of both! For Krystal it wasn't all smooth sailing. The memoir mentions dating blunders and some crazy things that occurred. She started out nannying for four children, and at one point ended up homeless and alone. It takes some bravery to continue on, but I got the feeling that she is glad she did.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Way way back in LFF episode 2 we were all introduced to some terrific music by an unknown musician Romain Dupré who is also an old school friend of our favourite French correspondent Sarah Zwick.
Romain Dupré chatted to me in this episode about his life in France, about how Paris is changing through this COVID period, and about his hopes for helping his community to heal after this strange stage of history is over.
Romain was concerned about his English, but I found listening to his strong French accent strangely comforting. To me it was as though there is something that this virus can't take away, and that is the strength and spirit of the French people, their stoicness, their Frenchness.
There is a rawness in this chat that I don't normally find. Romain was clearly wanting me to hear about the REAL Paris. About how the world actually is for them all right now. I loved hearing about his first experience with rock and roll when his mother put on an album "The Best of The Doors" and how with a broken amplifier it was incredibly loud with the music actually shaking his little child body to its core. He loved it and was sold.
Romain is a man who loves to visit his family in Bayonne even tough he's not a fan of travel. He adores and plays with his children, gives extra time to his students he teaches at high school and follows his heart with his music.
It takes a lot of courage to do an interview in your second language, as well as a hefty amount of trust. I'm thrilled that Romain agreed to chat to me.
This is a glimpse into a real French life, which is rare. Not an ex-Pat, not a tourist, not a francophile. I find talks with all those categories of people to be wonderfully fulfilling and terribly important to our continued knowledge and understanding of France. However, this chat enabled me to see a different Paris, not the history or the excitement we all crave from France, but the daily challenges and conversely the triumphs. The ordinary and simultaneously fabulous.
I now more than ever can't wait to return...
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Claudine Hemingway knows Paris. Like she REALLY knows Paris! Part of the Hemingway family, Claudine chats with Lou about her Parisian stories and shares some fascinating history of the French capital as well as painting a picture so real that we feel like we've been on vacation to our fave destination!
In this episode amongst other treats, we hear the real life and the long forgotten secrets of some notable French women. We also hear music from former First Lady of France Carla Bruni.
As Gertrude Stein said "America is my country but Paris is my home".
Come and take a visit home to Paris with Loulabelle and Claudine.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Explore the fascinating world of Paris rooftop photography and dream of future ramblings in France.
Jeremy Pritchard is a Parisian photographer, taking shots of the real Paris world from a rooftop perspective. This lovely authentic chat with Jeremy uncovers a side of Paris most of us never see. He also talks of his go-to petit déjeuner and shares one of his favourite musical artists Alain Bashung.
Loulabelle also chats with her oldest and dearest friends from school days about their dreams of travelling to Paris and France together in the future after COVID.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Hear a warm , sweet chat with Loulabelle's darling cousin and dear friend Anne Lock about a "grandes vacances" our family took in 2015 to France. Twenty of us met for a week in Paris and then most of us travelled for an extra week to the quaint village of Chinon in the Loire Valley.
Chinon is a place steeped in history and for the most part seems fairly unchanged over the past few hundred years. It has petit ruelles (little laneways) and divine little boutiques which look like magical fairytale shops!
There is an amazing farmers market and loads of touristy things to occupy all the generations we travelled with. But the best thing for all of us was the way it slowed down our daily life. The village has a way of enveloping you, and it cushioned all of us in that embrace with a warmth that has permeated the wonderful memories of our "vacances en France". ❣️
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
My gorgeous friend Karen Grooby has travelled with me in France a number of times.
In LFF episode 4 we chatted about one weekend we shared where we worked through a list Karen made of all the places to drink champagne in Paris! Karen is quite brilliant with her research and I have benefitted from it a bunch of times. She also has some general tips for travelers to Paris, about how to find some more tucked away nooks and crannies to excite us FrancoFilers.
In this ep hear our different perspectives on hotels vs Airbnb and the low down on good Parisian brekkies! Hear our other tips for quirky museums, the best time of day for visiting touristy sites, accommodation considerations & also our favourite café spots!
Come and dream about your next Paris sojourn with us.
Loulabelle xx
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Loulabelle chats to the remarkable Debi Lilly who is an amazing award winning event planner, florist and major francophile living in Chicago about how she keeps France beating in her heart when she's not there! Debi has French inspired businesses in Chicago and Nantucket in the US, but also paints a beautiful dream like escape for us to a vacation of France we can dream about to stay connected to our fave destination!. With her recommendation for a little French chill music towards the end and recipe recommendations from her fave corner Paris bistros, join in the daydream for a half hour of Parisian serenity.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Want the low down on the real French life for Emily in Paris? Then join us for this wonderful warm chat with Emily and the world of the 6th arrondissement!
When the TV series Emily in Paris started, Lou's guest in this podcast started getting texts first in a trickle and then in a tidal wave! The show was about her life! Or is it? This insightful conversation with "The Real Emily in Paris" is authentic and lovely. Hear all about life next to the Jardin du Luxembourg and aperitifs in Paris! Emily shares her perfect Parisian day for us all to dream away of un jour de Paris!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Embarking on an exchange to France had always been a dream for Australian teenager Grace McMahon. She travelled to France for the Aussie Christmas/summer break and stayed in a small town, Melun a half hour drive south of Paris. French was spoken the whole time with only a tiny bit of English which gave her French language skills a huge workout!
Grace loved school in France, although it was very different to what she was used to in Australia. We hear about her experiences with French food, teenage life in a French town and some surprises such as how many teenagers smoke!
I have always dreamed of being in France at Christmas and was thrilled to hear of Grace travelling with her host family to Reims for the Christmas markets and all the festivities there.
Being 17 and away from family for Christmas is tough, but experiencing Paris and France at a time when everything was decorated for Christmas added an extra layer of excitement for Grace.
With French music and a canelé recipe to make your mouth water this is a sweet chat to leave us all dreaming of life in Paris and France again.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
This is a wonderfully engaging podcast episode that will transport FrancoFilers through space and time to feel you have had a sneak peek at Versailles without the crowds!
For as long as I can remember, I have been in awe of the legend and the stories surrounding Versailles. It was wonderful to hear about this magical place from a French local perspective with ma belle amie Sarah Swick who is just as big a fan as I am.
Versailles has been listed as a World Heritage Site for the past 30 years, and is arguably one of the greatest achievements in French 17th century art and architecture. What started out as a hunting pavilion for King Louis XIII, was extended and transformed by his son King Louis XIV when he installed the Royal Court and French Government there in 1682.
We chat about how Versailles is viewed from a French perspective including the Italian influenced renovations during the Renaissance, the French revolution, and the Treaty of Versailles.
Find out about some of the more bizarre customs surrounding the "Sun King", quirky facts that have been written by those who lived there, as well as the crazy layers of complexity of the royal and social hierarchy.
My favourite part of Versailles is actually quite separate from the palace, down the back of the huge jardins in the Grand Trianon and Petite Trianon, the summer houses for the King and Queen. Separate summer houses of course, as it would not have been appropriate for the King’s mistress and the Queen to have a face off at the petit déjeuner table!
With tips not found elsewhere for a smooth Versailles visit and a wonderful musical piece capturing the sound heritage of Versailles, FrancoFilers will enjoy all the genuine and engaging snippets in this episode.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
This is the second episode in a double with Loulabelle's guest being her partner Paul. (The first is episode 16 re: Paris).
Travelling to France in 2018 in pre-COVID times hear about Lou & Paul's vacances in Provence with a week of road-tripping around Avignon.
FrancoFilers may choose to follow the conversation whilst viewing on Google Earth. This episode will take in chats about Avignon, Maubec, Gordes, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. A week full of life changing memories of an exceptional part of the world.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Want ideas for a week in Paris with your chéri? Loulabelle and her partner Paul chat about their first trip to the "city of love".
A visit to Notre Dame and a climb to the spire pre-fire, plus making the most of touristy clichés are both covered in this sweet chat that also includes a visit to artists in Montmartre, lunch at Les Deux Magots, shopping and champagne atop Galeries Lafayette and living like the locals in the Marais.
Lou's fave macarons boutique "Odette" & a spell for Paul at coiffure Charlene Ramon also feature.
Take a moment to immerse and escape in the loveliness of Paris, with a recipe and French music to keep your Frenchy vibes a flutter!
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Join Lou and her friends for a very timely chat for the Christmas period.
Meet Rachel Kealy, founder of the Women's Self Defence Network, and host of podcast Knowledge is Your Superpower for some brilliant travel safety tips for trips to France at any time of year, but also for this 2020 Christmas.
We also check in with our French correspondent Sarah Zwick, owner of Be My Guest Immersions in the Basque region of south west France, about what's happening currently for Christmas 2020 and we learn about some beautiful traditions de Noël en France!
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
On a French immersion trip to the south west of France, in the divinely gorgeous Saint-Jean-de-Luz, an unexpected highlight of the week was the daily early morning yoga class with Louise Godfrey. Louise has been a student and exceptional teacher of yoga for a couple of decades. We chat with Louise about teaching yoga in French, as well as two of her most wonderful French experiences. One was a visit she had to Chateau Bosgouet in Normandy, the home of author Jane Webster. The other was a stay at Plum Village, an old monastery that now focusses on mindfulness practice with teachings based on Buddhism and the art of mindful living, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Louise shared her go-to French food she grabs as soon as she arrives in France: an almond croissant and we hear a cover of a Georges Brassens classic Je Me Suis Fait Tu Petit.
This episode also includes a check in with our regular French chatter Sarah Zwick. It was wonderful to hear Sarah and her family are doing well, living in the south west of France in Bayonne and fascinating to hear of the current COVID situation from an insider's perspective in France.
www.loulabellesfrancofiles.com
Feed your French soul listening to this Loulabelle's chat with Lou and her belle amie Barbara Keenan.
Barbara and Lou met when Barb came to Melbourne Australia as an exchange student from Stockton California in 1986. Both were "foodies" as well as Francophiles. In 2018 by chance they were in Paris at the same time and had an early morning coffee rendezvous to share the excitement at being in their favourite place together.
Lou & Barbara take you on a little journey with this chat, back to Paris to the place we know and love but also to the Paris of Hemingway's time. Barb is a relative of Zelda who was married to F. Scott Fitzgerald of Great Gatsby fame. The Fitzgeralds hung out with Hemingway in Paris so it was somewhat personal for Barb to want to go there.
Hear a genuine and warm chat about meandering through Paris and finding little gems off the beaten track, and out of the touristy glare, as well as a recipe for Poulet Paillard and French Chill Musique.
When I asked Gabriel Gaté if he would chat with me for my podcast, I had no idea of the reception I would get. We have mutual friends, as the French community in Melbourne is small and tight, but I was not prepared for the wonderfully warm and generous person, who could not have been more happy to talk about his life in France, his work, his care for others and la vie quotidienne in general. In this episode FrancoFilers hear a down to earth and honest chat with Gabriel who is an internationally renowned chef, author of 23 cook books and countless recipes, a tv presenter with so many appearances including15 years of Taste of Le Tour, the segment that aired during the SBS Tour de France coverage & our Australian go-to person for French culture.
Listening to Gabriel talk about his life growing up in the Loire Valley with his grandmother who fueled his passion for food and cooking, transported me back to that region with its beautiful landscapes, markets, produce and chateaux.
He fascinated me with his story of the 200 year old restaurant in Paris where Napoleon dined, Le Grand Vefour, and reminisced about eating at the chouette petite brasseries on so many Paris street corners.
His experience with Le Tour de France is exceptional, as are the recipes he shared during that series.
After this chat I was inspired to head to the kitchen and start cooking, although nothing would be as good as using the produce from his garden in the Loire or the divine French farmers' markets.
Lou and her belle amie Sarah Zwick discuss French iconic designer Coco Chanel. She was a personal favourite for Sarah growing up in France with some of her earliest memories of her grandmother and mother always wearing Chanel No 5.
We chat about Coco's millenary, her rise to greatness with fans such as Marilyn Monroe, her impact and lasting legacy on women's fashion and her fascinating social circles including Russian Tsars.
With tips on Chanel shopping in Paris, music from the 2009 film Coco Avant Chanel (with a song famously sung by Coco herself in her youth) and a recipe to fit Coco's diet of champagne and caviar, this episode will transport to a time gone by in Paris and France.
Romain Gouvernet is a certified sommelier and a local to the Provence wine region near Avignon, and runs the fabulous wine tour company, Provence & Wine.
In this episode of the LFF podcast Lou chats to Romain about his life growing up amongst the grapes, his passion for wine and sharing his knowledge with travelers from all over the world who come to visit this amazing region of France and do a wine tour with him in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
With music by Georges Brassens and a recipe to make at home, sit back and daydream of long summers in Provence amongst the vines!
In 2017 Lou stayed at Rosemary Vine's très chouette country house right outside the plus-beaux village of Monpazier which is a beautiful petit bastide village.
In this episode, Lou talks to Rosemary about what led to her decision to purchase a house in the Dordogne rather than any other region given that all over France is stunning and unique.
The conversation includes chats about day trips to prehistoric caves with preserved art, tiny villages, markets, a 5 or 6 course Michelin star restaurant lunch followed by a very swish boat trip and chateau visits. We also hear about a most exceptional travel experience in a farm house near Monpazier. It was a week that cemented a connection to France in the heart of Loulabelle.
A few years back I visited Provence with my partner Paul and did a little road trip all around the area close to Avignon.
One particular day was spent cooking at Jean-Marc Villard's cooking school. Jean-Marc has decades of experience as a head chef in some of the best and Michelin star restaurants across France, as well as a long stint in the US where he brought the French cuisine to America in the early 1980s.
Prior to opening his cooking school for non-professional chefs in 2001 (first in Lyon and more recently in his home in Maubec, Provence) Jean-Marc instructed chefs at the prestigious Paul Bocuse cooking school.
For "foodie" FrancoFilers, when travelling to Provence this is an experience not to be missed!
We also hear from French Icon Pierre Perret. A wonderful tribute to the amazing singer, songwriter and performer. A tribute to his 1979 Au Cafe de Canal xx
Lou chats to Jane Webster, in a wonderfully warm and honest conversation about her story, taking her young family across the world from Australia to live in France, to build a life and renovate a dilapidated château.
Jane talks of the events leading to their decision to shift to a dual continent life in a very personal way. We also hear how the family made friends with the locals when they first arrived, and adjusted to their new world. Jane has a wonderful way of painting a picture for us FrancoFilers to hold in our minds of the way her life unfolds in France, from the early morning sunrises, the pottering in her potager, the splendid daily farmers' markets and the beautiful French people who enrich her life.
Jane currently runs the château food and wine experience The French Table as well as a Château Life Residency.
I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to lovely Jane and dreaming of France for a while. Hear about the ways we can all become immersed with her at Château Bosgouet in this episode of Loulabelle's FrancoFiles. It's the French food needed for a FrancoFiler's soul.
Lou shares tips for travelling solo in Paris. Where to eat? Where to stay? How to connect with locals? Lou also chats to our LFF fave Frenchy Sarah for updates on her solo travels to Pau in southwest France. Hear music by Ben Mazue and learn the history of soupe de l'onion!
Is that Paris architecture or art? Lou chats with performer, writer and global citizen Ruby Boukabou about her French-Australian life, tapping on top of bars and writing books for us all to walk with in Paris!
Want to find the special and sometimes out of the way places to drink champagne in Paris? Then come on a journey with Lou and her friend Karen as they reveal their fave secret spots for a glass of bubbles in the beautiful French capital!
Lou chats with her childhood friend Wendy Lee Taylor about her life in France since she moved there in her early 20s to perform at the Lido Paris. Wendy now performs with her husband Philippe in the swinging Paris jazz clubs that have been going since mid-last century. Hear her story and her performance of Deshabille Moi.
Lou chats to her lovely friend, ex-French teacher and travel guide Sarah Swick about her home in the beautiful Basque region in south western France. Sarah shares a family recipe as well as the many highlights to discover when visiting the Basque! Music by Sarah's old school friend, now muso Romain Dupré.
Lou chats to her friend Christina about her first trip to Paris where her love affair with France began! Christina gives tips for finding places to exercise and run in Paris and Lou describes a perfect day where 2 strangers left a life long impression. Listen to new French music and learn the secret to a brilliant bouillabaisse!