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