Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A French Love Affair

One day in the late 1990s, Francophilia founder Pamela Poole was looking for a Bastille Day celebration in her hometown of San Diego...but found nothing. So she decided to launch a website where people like her could get their Francophile fix any time, anywhere. She started putting together a plan and three years ago, Pamela, who now lives in Paris, launched the Francophilia Community. 

Francophilia consists of three related sites. The Gazette  is  a cabinet de curiosités, an online magazine offering bite-sized tidbits of news, trivia, history, arts, pop culture, food, fashion, language and more. The Community  is a full-featured social network where Francophiles can meet people all over the world who share their passion for France. (And monthly contests too!)  The Marketplace is stocked with  hand-picked merchandise that appeals to a wide range of Francophile tastes and budgets, from French designer clothes to kitsch. "Not everybody can live in France, or even visit as often as they’d like," Pamela says. "And some never make it here at all. Now they can pop in to Francophilia and come away feeling like they’ve had a little taste of the country we all love." 

Pamela's sites look great thanks to Pamela's talented and techie husband Vincent, who handles the design. She plans, one day, to merge the three separate sites into one. Meanwhile, she's actively seeking investors and partners to help her move Francophilia forward. Interested? Email her:  admin@francophilia.com.

10 comments:

  1. thanks for the great info, Julie. You're always steering me somewhere!

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  2. Thanks Julie, I'm off to Paris on Monday......

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  3. Julie, thank you so much for promoting Pamela's sites! PP followers, please do bookmark and visit the Gazette - featuring various articles about francophilia, conveniently arranged - and feel free to participate in the community. I've been able to communicate with friendly francophiles nationwide (there are international members as well) I'd never have had the chance to meet otherwise.

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  4. Great post as always Ms. Mautner, but I'm having my own love affair with your book the FOOD NETWORK SOUTH BEACH WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL COOKBOOK. It is brilliantly written, and with recipes and behind the scenes stories from America's hottest chefs, it is indeed the PERFECT gift for this holiday season! Why buy a cookbook from one celebrity chef when you can have one from them all ? The Q & A is great -- so much fun -- and the recipes are both inspiring and attainable. The photos are great. It is well laid out and easy to navigate. KUDOS TO YOU JULIE!!!

    I bought 4 books - 2 for gifts and 1 for my best friend and 1 for myself! I couldn't resist!
    I want to be known as giving the BEST HOLIDAY GIFT THIS YEAR> THANK YOU FOR WRITING IT.

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  5. Thanks Julie. Great information on Pamela's site. I didn't find a place to subscribe by feed or email.It would be a useful addition - it's difficult to remember to visit the sites I enjoy. The feeds/email are terrific reminders.

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  6. Bonjour winehouse.

    You can subscribe to the Gazette! At the bottom of the page, under More Francophilia, you'll see the link, as well as links to Twitter and Facebook.

    Glad you enjoyed the site!

    Pamela

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  7. Terrific ! Merci Pamela.

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  8. Sounds like a great idea...I'm always eager to learn more about France! I wanted to stop by and invite you to enter my first ever giveaway...I'm celebrating a hundred followers!

    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
    Hope Ava

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  9. Thanks for sharing the information. Always looking for resources for information about France.

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  10. Hi Julie, I find your site extremely interesting with lots of great information. I am just back from 3 weeks travelling in the east - Lyon, Annecy, Chambery and Paris of course - all meeting tourism professionals for my business at France Made Easy.
    Sadly I didn't manage to get down to St Remy this time but hope to next time I am over there! It is good to see the weather with you all today as we sit in deep snow in the north of Scotland!
    A bientot to all and keep in touch,
    Marie Cruickshank

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