Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles

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 L...

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 populatio...

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...

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 intend...

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...

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 A...

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...

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 Chri...

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 ph...

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 ima...

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...

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-Franc...

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 t...

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 mo...

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 befor...

  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...

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 bein...

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...

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 amo...

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 th...

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 after...

Alex Ganipeau is a native of Bordeaux who is now a skilled French teacher residing in Australia with her business The French Hack. I check in with Alex weekly to improve my French chatting skills and I also love her tips on lots of things to do, places to go and cultural matters we might stumble across when visiting France. She is always a wealth of info for me when I'm planning my next Frenc...

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...

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 h...

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 wr...