My own French story...

03/24/23 • 63 min

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.

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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
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website

Tune in to hear the full story and escape to France with us.

Previous Episode

Not just châteaux, champagne & croissants! Living in & reporting on Paris...

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!

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.

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!

Next Episode

French village life... Montmorillon with Andrew Prior.

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!