Loulabelle’s FrancoFiles – Details, episodes & analysis

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!

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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle'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.

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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle'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

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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website

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.

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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website

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.
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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website

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.  
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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. 
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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!
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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.
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Come and escape to France momentarily 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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website

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.

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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 YouTube
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles Instagram
Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website

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.
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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

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.

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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

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!

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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