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French music it has, but what makes So Frenchy So Chic so damn good isn’t the champagne or the whimsical crooning (although those both are tres bon). What makes So Frenchy So Chic such a special day out rather, is how very Melbournian it really is. Werribee de vivre? Mais oui!

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Held amongst the beautifully cultivated gardens of Werribee Mansion, So Frenchy So Chic offers Melbournians a chance to dream – to pretend for one honey-drenched day in the sun that we are collectively cavorting in the French countryside surrounding Paris. We quaff our rose and Laurent Perrier bubbles, wear our straw sunhats or flower crowns and sit (in comfort) on picnic blankets, haybales or drowse and chat under the trees as the music filters down through the leaves above us. It’s better than a 24 hour plane flight, let me tell you.

This year, I felt rather special to be picked up and hosted at So Frenchy So Chic by Renault Australia – here’s Ruby Assembly sister Brittany and I about to be whisked off to a day of cheese, tunes and baguettes in a nightingale blue Megane. New wheels? New you!
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Now, let me get back to So Frenchy So Chic’s charm: it’s Australian inventiveness. Melbournians are a cosmopolitan bunch, a city of letters and the arts. So Frenchy is akin to a wonderful dressup party where our denizens interpret provincial chic with a good dose of hipster op-shop diving. “What? This little old gingham jumpsuit with matching chapeau?” I love it – there’s so much great people watching … plus the addition of superb French musical acts from a variety of categories. It’s quirky, it’s gauche, it’s self-aware, it’s playful, it is family-friendly … in short, it’s the kind of festival I’ve got time for. Stereosonic? Big Day Out? I’m more of a So Frenchy So Chic kind of femme.
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 Pop!

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As Brittany and I wandered from the Renault enclosure around the Werribee Mansion’s gardens, we lazed by the lake and watched modern ‘Mirandas’ explore the grottoes, parasols in hand. Lilting music floated over the water, the sun warmed our bones, families fed the ducks … this was a moment we both recall as idyllic.
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Chanteuse Emilie Simon as headline act. A vista from the wide balcony of the Mansion.

The biggest of baisses grandes to the team at Soda Communications – thankyou to Chriss, Madi and Zoe for your hospitality. Also, thankyou to Renault Australia for including Ruby Assembly in the merveillieux SFSC 2015. A fine way to start the year.