Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles

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 read less
Society & CultureSociety & Culture

Episodes

Champêtre - Kate Hill's creative and connected life in country France.
Mar 24 2024
Champêtre - Kate Hill's creative and connected life in country France.
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
Escape to the Dordogne in an old French apartment ❤️
Mar 11 2024
Escape to the Dordogne in an old French apartment ❤️
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
Finding the hidden gems in Paris with Claudine Hemingway
Mar 3 2024
Finding the hidden gems in Paris with Claudine Hemingway
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
Loving La Maison Trumeau!
Feb 25 2024
Loving La Maison Trumeau!
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
Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide To The World’s Most Delicious City
Feb 6 2024
Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide To The World’s Most Delicious City
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 alsogourmet 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 andParalympic games coming up, this podcast episode is a must for anyone planning atrip to Paris this year or just for lovers of French food who want to join in fora 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
Escape to the Château, restoring the historic magic of France.
Dec 17 2023
Escape to the Château, restoring the historic magic of France.
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.**Other Loulabelle's links:FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Paris for Beginners
Dec 4 2023
Paris for Beginners
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:FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
Loulabelle heads off on a girls' roadtrip across the southern regions of France!
Nov 12 2023
Loulabelle heads off on a girls' roadtrip across the southern regions of France!
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:1. Avoid the toll roads. You will find all the nuggets of gorgeousness to fill your soul off the beaten track!2. 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.3. 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.4. 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.**Other Loulabelle's links:FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website
The Parisian ABCs
Nov 4 2023
The Parisian ABCs
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 Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website