For me, their dedication to quality in everyday life is one of the things I love most about the French. In their world, food has to be spot on, regardless of whether they are dishing up a simple meal of ham, cheese and bread or indulging in a celebration dinner. A lacklustre wine won’t be […]
The Distant Francophile Blog
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Recently, I’ve been spoilt for choice when it comes to exhibitions from the big name French designers. First, there was the delightful Dior display in Melbourne. And then there was an absolute treat in the form of New York’s Volez, Voguez, Voyagez – Louis Vuitton exhibition. The extensive collection charts the evolution of the brand […]
I love travelling. From the moment we leave the house until the cab drops us back home, I’m in high energy mode. Right now, we are exploring New York for the first time (one word description of our trip so far – sensational). And we’re in full planning mode for our next visit to France. […]
Our son is travelling with a friend to Paris very soon. Both of these young gentlemen have been working hard to squirrel away funds for their trip. But given our son has just completed the fourth and final year of his university degree and his friend will be continuing his studies next year, the […]
We are in true countdown mode here at Distant Francophile headquarters – it is less than two weeks now until we head to New York. To say we are looking forward to our first ever trip to the States really is a massive understatement. With a trip to a new destination on the horizon, we’ve […]
A friend of mine is facing a packing dilemma. You see, he has agreed to go on a holiday with a large group of friends to celebrate a 40th birthday. He is very close to the ‘birthday girl’ and doesn’t want to miss her special day. But he is struggling a little. Because the holiday […]
Well, I finally made it to The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture exhibition here in Melbourne. A girlfriend and I had been keen to go as soon as the show opened back in August, but as happens, life had managed to get in the way of us attending. All that said, if […]
A Distant Francophile reader got in touch with me recently. She is in the enviable position of heading to Paris during December and January and was looking for some advice on what to wear while experiencing the magic of winter in Paris. It’s no secret that I’ll happily travel to Paris at any time of […]
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 […]
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past five years, you’ll know that morning routines having been big news in recent times. It seems that people from all walks of life are embedding healthy habits of some description into the early part of their day – and that these practices set the […]
Ok. So I promise this will be the last post on shopping – for a while at least!! The thing is, I realised that in the last couple of posts I hadn’t actually addressed one of the most common shopping related questions I receive from Distant Francophile readers. The question goes something like this. […]
Shopping was our theme last week, and it certainly had a few readers wondering about my own shopping habits. And in particular, the shopping I do when I’m in Paris. Interestingly, while I do whole stack of window shopping during my travels, I don’t actually buy too much of anything. The reasons for this outcome […]
Clothes shopping. Like politics and ‘The Bachelor’ it is a topic that is guaranteed to polarise. We either seem to love it or hate it. And regardless of your position on the topic – whether you shop regularly or rarely, ‘in person’ or on-line – there is still a good chance that you won’t end […]
One of the things I’ve become increasingly passionate about in recent years is the topic of women’s confidence. All too often in both my professional and personal worlds I see women suffering due to a lack of confidence. This lack of self assurance might see them holding themselves back from going for new jobs because […]
Time for a change of pace today. As I’ve shared so many times before, I love, love, love it when Distant Francophile readers reach out to me with questions. I’m always happy to answer these queries. After all, questions require answers. Regardless of the topic – style, confidence, packing for France, potential itineraries, French culture […]
I’ve managed to create a bit more space in my world recently, which has been exciting to say the least. It always feels incredible to have the time to just research and read what ever takes your fancy. And with that little bit of luxury to follow my curiosity, I’ve been able to find a […]
An opportunity to visit New York in a few months means I’m not heading back to Paris until April next year. But the long lead time doesn’t mean I’m not in full on Paris planning mode. I love how there is always something to do in Paris, no matter how many times you have visited. […]
Have you stopped to consider what your clothes say about you? Do you ever think about the messages you are sending to others simply by how you choose to dress? Are you broadcasting to everyone you encounter that you a confident woman, happy with what is going on her life? Or is your look transmitting […]
Recently, I shared the story of my friend who cleared out her wardrobe and started again. Yes, you read that right. She created a brand new wardrobe from scratch – one that absolutely represents the woman she is today. While I know scores of women who would love to follow her lead and make that […]
There are lots of things I love in this world. My family, friends and France are absolute givens, as well as being kind of obvious. Any regular reader would have guessed those things with relative ease. My slippers, red wine and getting dressed every morning would probably be a little harder for many of you […]