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

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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 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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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.

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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

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!

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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

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/

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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