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 he continued to work hard to pursue a career that has taken him to live around the world and now in Paris. Even though Daniel lives in a world where it is normal to consider showing his collection at a venue like the Ritz Paris, something most of us can only dream of, he is wonderfully grounded and still full of the Aussie spirit that embodies hard work and determination.

I met up with Daniel when I was recently in Paris and reconnecting for our podcast chat was such a delight. Whether you are a Francophile, perhaps a devotee to fashion or you're just interested in the life stories of others, tune into listen to Daniel's chat with Loulabelle and "watch this space" for what is coming up next for Daniel Alexander!

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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

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-France in the Pays de la Loire, then turned back to the east and headed to Burgundy before going through the Champagne region on the way back to Paris.

Tune in to hear Trudy and I chat about the pockets of magic we discovered, the adventures and special events we booked, like a motorbike and side-car trip through the vines of Burgundy. We discussed staying with locals as well as times when we stayed in airbnbs or chambre d'hôtes. We also share some great tips for planning or survivng a French roadtrip!

Join us for lots of laughs and beautiful recollections of a roadtrip that has created some marvellous lifetime memories. If you're wanting assistance for planning your own French roadtrip, book an hour with Loulabelle wherever you are in the world via the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website.

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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

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 the French capital or perhaps for those elsewhere around the world who just want to stay connected to what's going on, The Paris Plan is for you!

Tune into this podcast chat to hear more detail about The Paris Plan and head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website for all the links for how to follow The Paris Plan on your socials.

There are some suggestions on The Paris Plan which are evergreen and can be done anytime, with other events that are a specific agenda for the upcoming week. There are touristy things to do weekly as well as local stuff, with special occasions sometimes coming up, like this week's harvest at the Montmartre vineyard!

After listening, head to the LFF website for more info.

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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

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 more of Normandy, the Pay de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Burgundy and the Champagne region with a dear friend Trudy.

In this episode I outline a number of tips. How can we allow for the magic to happen, but still be well planned enough to enjoy ourselves without stress and pack in the fun? I'll give ideas for car considerations, planning time frames, accommodation research considerations and tips for how to enjoy regional France in the best way possible.

The extra little oooh and aaaah moments with squeals of delight can't always be planned however. I regularly recommend to get off the freeways and take the back roads. The little places sometimes found along the way can be the difference between an exceptional vacation and one that is probably quite lovely, but only what you've planned for... I don't think anyone can plan for the magic to happen, especially in France.

For all the links for this episode, head to the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles website to blogpost number 165.

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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

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 before boarding which rarely happens in Australia! After a walk of shame to the overweight baggage desk and many euros later, we were fine to board but it was an issue we hadn't planned for. It was also frustrating as we had plenty of weight allowance in our checked luggage, so we were kicking ourselves for not considering the problem prior to getting to the airport for the internal European flight... we were still in long-haul Aussie-Europe mode! We did not make the same mistake on our internal european flight returning back to Paris!
It is also worth noting that not all countries in the EU use the Euro and the exchange rate is not necessarily the best once already in Europe, so a bit of research prior to departure is a must!

We adored Prague. Every building is food for a Francophile soul, even though not in France. Our friends live in Plzen about an hour from Prague, where Pilsner Beer is made. It is an amazing town with parts going back many centuries, then other parts of the city are almost stuck in the communist period. I had my hair done in Plzen w2hich was a real eye opener for the w2ay regular life takes place. I was transfixed by the difference to how we operate in Australia, or in France for that matter. We visited an ancient castle, did a beer tour in Plzen, ate incredible Czech food, attended a candlelight concert in Prague and met some gorgeous locals with our beautiful friends. I think that was the most special thing, meeting wonderful Czechs including our friends' adopted grandma, Ivcha.

In the middle of our Czech week, we popped down to Vienna for a couple of days to attend a Mozart concert at the Musikverein, the Golden Hall. Everywhere is so close in Europe so heading to another country to fulfil a lifelong wish is not so much of a problem.

Tune in to hear some of the problems we faced as well as some great tips when going to a new city for a brief visit.



**Coming up soon will be a number of episodes about the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles current road trip through France with a number of different guests.

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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

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 Pierre, her now husband and that changed everything!

When Alex first moved to Paris, she had only a couple of friends there who both left to live elsewhere not long after. Alex realised she needed connections and made a lot of friends through ex-pat groups and through friends of friends. There was a year of exploring Paris before meeting Pierre and since then they have lived elsewhere in France in Burgundy and now in Provence.

Alex’s story of discovering herself is fascinating to me. Her chat about making a vie français and experiencing some of life’s most significant events such as having a baby in France, getting married and buying a house now in Provence, is the stuff that many peoples’ dreams are made of! Now living a gorgeously French rural life, Alex described her local market days, the fresh produce, the local dishes and the different style of living compared to Paris or even Australia. She gave us wonderful tips for when visiting the Pont du Gard and painted a beautiful picture for our imaginations of the balmy Provençal days. But the best part? When asked to describe what a perfect French day would look like for her, Alex was able to chat about her day that happened only yesterday, because she is actually right now living her perfect French life!

Tune in to escape to France with us momentarily.

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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

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 being rattled off to her over the phone! But after months putting together a dossier to provide to the French consulate Elaine attained her Visa of Longue Durée. Elaine ended up with a very individual style store with wrought iron shelves, oak panelling and mood lighting. It sounds like the sort of place that would feed a book-lovers soul. She highlighted books in both French and English, anything that promoted Australia that Elaine thought the French would appreciate, some with Aboriginal designs.

Competition with the online book stores became increasingly difficult. Regardless of this Eliane continued along happily until she received a quite dramatic letter enacting a very old law that caused her to close. Over 100 local university professors signed a petition which was sent to the president, but although the ban was then overturned, Elaine had made the decision to close the doors.

Tune into a fascinating story about a life navigating a part of France that many of us don't ordinarily see. Elaine's connection to France stretches much further that the book store... she reminds us that dreaming is important and making plans to follow our dreams can fulfil both our own souls as well as inspire others.

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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

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 decided to build a cathedral!
From a medieval cathedral town, Saint Malo became a very rich port as the home of trade for hundreds of years, profiting especially from the opening up of the New World.

Chatting to my friend Danielle was fascinating as she is so knowledgeable about the history as well as what to do in Saint Malo right now. I will be returning in August and I'm so looking forward to the amazing seafood, the beautiful stone village, the beautiful welcoming people and the tourist stuff to do!



To find out more about the Normandy Retreat mentioned in this episode, email janehiscock@chateaudujonquay.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