On Sunday, we celebrated 7 years of Matilda Marseillaise! Can you believe it?
Over the past 7 years of Matilda Marseillaise, we’ve published:
- 535 articles about everything from French Christmas markets to French-inspired products and from French wine varietals to French food and much more;
- 230 interviews;
- 110 reviews;
- 79 editions of What’s on; and
- 66 film reviews.
From the start we have embraced and covered not just people and events with links to France but the rest of the Francophonie as well. That has included Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, and the many Francophone countries from within Africa. We’ve told you where in Australia and how to celebrate the national days not just of France but of Belgium, Canada and Switzerland too.
FRENCH FOOD
Early on, we saw the importance of sharing with you where to get the the Galette des Rois, the Bûche de Noël all across Australia and past editions of these articles seem to get hits earlier and earlier each year! When COVID struck, we pivoted a little to let you know how to get French food during lockdown, how to support French businesses during COVID and also how to order French take-away food. We have also written about the various days that celebrate French food such as Cheese Lovers’ Day, Mouldy Cheese Day, Croissant Day, Macaron Day, Fondue Day, Cheese Soufflé Day, Escargot Day, Chocolate Truffle Day, Crêpe Suzette Day, Rôtisserie Chicken Day, Caviar Day, and Crème Brûlée Day.
WINE & CHAMPAGNE
We’ve covered the days related to wine varietals, big and small allowing you to develop a knowledge of some basic and interesting facts about each of them: Chardonnay Day, Chenin Day, Rosé Day, Pinot Noir Day, Cabernet Sauvignon Day, Grenache Day, Carignan Day, Merlot Day, Carménère Day, Cabernet Franc Day, Syrah Day, Riesling Day, Malbec Day, Sauvignon Blanc Day, Marselan Day, Viognier Day, Moscato Day, Pinot Grigio Day, Pinot Meunier Day, Tannat Day, and Malbec Day.
Just as we have written about the various wine varietals, so too have we gone in depth to champagne giving you Champagne quotes, Champagne facts, and Champagne recommendations for Champagne Day, and Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We’ve let you know about Taste Champagne, Champagne Fest, The Bubbles Festival as well as more intimate masterclasses and champagne dinners. We also introduce you to Vine & Bubble, Australia’s only magazine dedicated to champagne.
SPIRITS
French spirits don’t get forgotten about either. We’ve written articles for Cognac Day, Anisette Day, Crème de Menthe Day, Absinthe Day, Calvados Day, Chartreuse Day, Vodka Day, and Gin Day.
FILM
We have written about the various film festivals around Australia which are showing French or Francophone films. The festivals include Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and more niche festivals such as CHIFF, Europa, Europa, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Antenna Documentary Film Festival, and Fantastic Film Festival.
Each year we have written about the Alliance Française French Film Festival and have been lucky enough to interview both the Artistic Directors, that have been in the roles during our 7 years: Philippe Platel and Karine Mauris. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve also started letting you know about films, documentaries and shows leaving SBS on Demand each month.
We’ve interviewed Phil Grabsky, producer and director at Exhibition on Screen about Degas: Passion for Perfection, director Emma Benestan about her film Hard Shell Soft Shell (French title Fragile), and Australian film-makers Annie Stiven and Les McLaren who made Life is a very strange thing. We also got to interview rapper MB14, star of the fantastic film Tenor.
FILM REVIEWS
Over the past 7 years, we’ve published 66 film reviews. The most read among them are for Both sides of the Blade, Sugar and Stars and Roxane.
FESTIVALS
We’ve covered the major festivals including WOMADelaide, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Festival, Tasting Australia, Adelaide Cabaret Festival as well as the Fringes across Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. These are just a few of the 19 non-French festivals we’ve written about.
FRENCH FESTIVALS
We’ve written about the French festivals big and small. Brisbane’s Le Festival and Sydney and Melbourne’s Bastille Day festivals: Bastille Festival : Revolution in the Rocks and Bastille Day Melbourne French Festival and So Frenchy So Chic are annual events. We don’t forget about the regional French festivals either, including Auburn FrenchFest, Le Festival Geelong and Twilight in Paris in Newcastle.
Sadly, there have been several French festivals that have come and gone over the last 7 years: Adelaide French Festival, Sunshine Coast French Festival, Shark Bay Rendezvous, Paris to Provence, Bonjour Barossa, Bonjour French Festival on the Gold Coast, and Bonjour Perth Festival among them.
FRENCH MARKETS
Some of these are regular events, others only yearly but we have covered them all! Le Marché Willoughby, Bastille Market in Sydney, Rendezvous Market, Le Jolly Market, La Belle Vie French Market at Taren Point Public School in Sydney, Twilight in Paris, FANS French Market. Telopea Parks School’s La Grande Fête.
REVIEWS
We’ve reviewed 110 shows from concerts to theatre and from opera to art exhibitions. Highlights include Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White; Cirque Alfonse’s Barbu; Josephine a show about Josephine Baker ; Louise Blackwell’s show about Juliette Greco Love on the Left Bank; Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée D’Orsay at Art Gallery of South Australia; State Opera South Australia and State Theatre Company South Australia’s joint production of Candide; Kiss & Cry Collective’s Cold Blood; Meow Meow’s Pandemonium; Angélique Kidjo’s 40th anniversary tour concert; and Robert Lepage’s The Nightingale & Other Fables.
SPORT
Every four years when the World Cup comes around we’ve let you know where in Australia you can watch the matches involving the Belgian, French, and other Francophone teams. Every four years it’s also the Olympics so of course for Paris’ turn, we shared 20 things you may not know about the Paris Olympics.
We also interviewed Jonathon Hivernat, World Champion and captain of the French Wheelchair Rugby team
INTERVIEWS
We have done 230 interviews in our 7 years! Each year, we’ve interviewed people from far and wide within the Francophonie that were in the WOMADelaide line-up.
Some of our interview highlights include Paul Perrin, from the Musée D’Orsay about the exhibition Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée D’Orsay; musician Youssou N’Dour, singer Nathalie Lermitte about Piaf: The Show; Franco-Australian author Sophie Beaumont about her novel “The Paris Cooking School” and Fanny Coindet, Associate Director about Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show. It was hard to choose just a few.
WHAT’S ON
Since February 2018, we’ve published a monthly What’s on to fill your month with events linked to France and the Francophonie. When the world went into COVID 19 lockdown, we found events happening online so you could keep French and Francophone culture in your life.
It’s been a busy 7 years. What’s your favourite article we’ve written n the 7 years of Matilda Marseillaise? What would you like to see us write more about in the next 7 years of Matilda Marseillaise?
