The thing I love the most about creating Distant Francophile is all the fabulous francophiles I’ve met over the years. And one of my favourite fellow francophiles is the very fabulous Jo Karnaghan. I first introduced you to Jo in episode two of The Franco-Files. Jo is the very clever founder of frugal first class travel. […]
What To Do
74 posts
Squee!!! I’m super excited for this post. Why? Because I get to update you on the success of Planches & Plonk! Planches & Plonk is the dream business of our friends Graham and Damon. Graham and I got to know one another years ago when we started blogging at around the same time. When Scotty […]
Given we were in the area recently, there was no way in the world I was going to miss visiting Grasse. In a country renowned for perfumes, the town of Grasse is at the heart of the French fragrance industry. Located in the south of France, it’s a ‘must visit’ for any perfume lover. It […]
One of the best things about travelling is that you are constantly in discovery mode. It’s highly likely that you’ll be meeting new people and exploring different places and flavours. And more often than not, the change in routine will give you the opportunity to learn something about yourself. As it happens, I discovered something […]
When it comes to visiting France, do you consider yourself an independent traveller? If you happen to be reading this, there’s a strong chance you do. It’s also likely that you enjoy making your own bookings and plans, as well as doing your own trip research. And I’m almost certain your research often involves scouring […]
I love perfume. No, I’m going to go a step further. I adore perfume. So much so that I’ve often thought that if I wasn’t committed to blogging about all things French and style related, I could easily have a site dedicated to beautiful fragrances and the sparkling bottles that house them. That said, you […]
How many Parisian travel guides does one household need? That’s the question I asked myself recently as I unwrapped our autographed copy of Don’t Be A Tourist In Paris – The Messy Nessy Chic Guide. Given the fact that our home already contains plenty of guide books, my intuition tells me that the answer to […]
One of my favourite things about visiting Paris is the opportunity to check out some of the smaller museums. These bite sized gems often give you a focussed insight into Paris and her history. They are small enough so as not to overwhelm your mind, your feet or your budget. And as a general rule, […]
One of the many things I’m really looking forward to on our upcoming trip to Paris is a photo shoot. We had the pleasure of doing a shoot with the beautiful Paris based photographer Carla Coulson a couple of years ago. It really was one of the most sensational and memorable ways to spend […]
Welcome to November! Scott and I arrived home last night, after spending almost all of October in France. As usual, we had an amazing time. But, honestly, we would have been hard pressed not to with cities and towns like Annecy, Bordeaux and Toulouse on our itinerary. Highlights for me included a small plane flight […]
I simply adore writing our monthly inspiration posts from France. While it doesn’t happen all that often, whenever it does I always feel like I have so much more to share with you. It’s probably got something to do with the fact that I’m focussed on taking everything in. Or perhaps it has something to […]
As you have probably figured out by now, Scott is a bit of a railway enthusiast. To most people trains are just a way of getting to and from work and offer little else, apart from an annoyance when you get stuck at a level crossing! But for Scott, they offer something more. He loves […]
Of all the Australian Capital cities, Melbourne is considered the most ‘European’. Melbournians can thank the large influx of Italian and Greek immigrants back in the 1950s for that title – their culture and customs have meshed with ours over years. As a result, our city is known for atmospheric laneways overflowing with great delicatessens, […]
While many people might think rail is an outdated form of transport, the idea of belting through the French countryside at 300kmh on a double deck train with a café – or, if it is little later in the day, a bar – really appeals to Scott. Like you wouldn’t believe. Luckily for Scotty, the […]
Neither Scott nor I grew up in particularly religious families, yet whenever we are in France, you can guarantee we will set foot in a church. While we are generally there for the history or the legend rather than any spiritual calling, I’m always reminded that some of the ‘must visit’ churches, including the Cathédrale […]
It is around seven months until we head back to France. While that seems like an eternity (I’m wishing it was seven weeks, or even better, seven days) I am in full on planning mode. While I’ve developed some fairly decent desktop research skills, I still can’t go past recommendations from people who have already […]
Last week, I provided the first instalment of a response to the question Which Parisian Arrondissement Is Best To Stay In?which was put to us by a Distant Francophile reader. Let’s be honest – it’s an extremely valid question. Paris is chock full of things to do and see, and it makes sense to locate […]
Many travellers head to France wishing to experience the amazing food. And if you feel like you want to take the ‘foodie’ experience to a whole new level, then checking out a Michelin-starred restaurant could be for you. We’ve been lucky enough to eat at a number of one, two and three starred restaurants now […]
It was inevitable that one day Scott and I would spend time in Strasbourg. You see, Scott loves Germany almost as much as I love France so, given Strasbourg’s history, this very French city which is full of German flavour is almost the perfect destination for us. While we were confident that we would enjoy […]
Here’s the third instalment in our Four Days In Paris series and I will admit right up front that four days of shopping in Paris is not going to appeal to every traveller. In fact, I’m guessing that some of Distant Francophile’s most loyal readers have just stopped reading. And I’ll also admit that it […]