Bon Fromage in short

Bon Fromage was a Parisian cheese and wine event at the old King and Godfree site in Carlton. Here they had loads of cheese for everyone to try from triple brie to vintage cheddar. Wines were $8-$10 per glass. It was cash only. Maker and Monger and Shifty Cherve were there to sell their cheese meals and blocks for all to buy.

Cheeses to try.

More cheeses on offer

Triple cream cheese- this was yum

The music there was just great

Here I loved all the cheeses on offer.

It was a pity that it was just on for the one weekend and not the two as proposed. Oh well if they do run it again I will surely attend again

Shifty Chevre

RNIS tried the cheeses as part of the Brunswick st All In festival but they paid for their own drinks in a separate visit. This festival is a free festival for all and it featured many activities and events for everyone along the shopping strip.

The service staff are amazing and the place is very cozy.

This one was a very intimate cheese tasting event which went on for about half an hour. Here we sat at the same table with Rukmal from the Plus ones who were also checking out the event on their own accord. We tasted four cheeses each with a very different personality. Some people enjoyed a wine or two. I generally like the saltier cheeses as they were more flavoursome. I loved the blue vein cheese at the end as it was strong in flavour. This would work well with the fig

The French triple brie which we had at the start was creamy and didn't have a strong flavour. This would work well with the quince paste and a little bit of apricot. The champagne rind cheese which was the second one was a little bit stronger and it reminded me of jaffles. The cheddar works well with the red wine and a baguette and some grapes.

Later on I came back and enjoyed a seat up the back where the books are. I enjoyed a pot of green and a lemon mineral water from Hepburn springs. This is one of the newer flavours from Hepburn springs. Here it was not as carbonated as the normal lemonade but it was sweet.

Rating: 18/20- DO BUY THAT CHEESEBOARD FOR $20-$23!!! They include five different cheeses, quince paste, dried fruit and water crackers and share it between two.

I shall be back one day. Please do invite more bloggers Shifty Chevre to try.

The Stables of Como and Paris to Provenece

Paris to Provence is a once a year event which brings everyone together. It is at Como house, which is about a one minute walk from the tram stop or for those who are adventurous and love walking a ten minute walk from Hawksburn station. Actually if you choose the latter you can bring the dog without the need to bring the car. In fact there was a huge line of cars going in on the way there and that was at 12pm.

Fairy floss

Sign

dips

Cheese  platter

Cheese tastings

Cheese menu

Cheese tastings

Wine tastings

The spirit of France

Garden

Wine

Wine

Donuts

Books

Fountain

Kelpie

A few people like myself paid online and it was $17.50. One guy thought that it was a waste of money, but to hire out this lovely place it would cost them a fortune. And if they were to let people in for free it would be too crowded and everything would be trampled on. To keep the numbers low they had to charge a fee.

Included in the fee was the wine and cheese tastings. And for the lucky ones a free tart at the cooking demos.

It was a lovely sunny day and I enjoyed sitting outside. I brought my own lunch but had afternoon tea at the Stables of Como which is inside the festival. There was a Yarra Valley Cheese place outside and there were a few stalls outside of the stable selling champagne and savoury delights. The Stable of Como had been blogged about by 35 other bloggers and all for good things.

The place was small hence it was busy. They do table service and service was very friendly. In fact it is run by French people and they had croquet monsieur which is a French dish. Seeing as this is a French festival, I thought it fitting. Croque Monsieur is the normal ham and cheese toastie except this version is much more eloquent. And it was a delight to eat. With that came my tea.

I enjoyed being here. Being here and trying croquet monsieur was fun and as International students in Melbourne you should try many different and new foods such as this. There were crepes as well at the festival but we get them everywhere in Melbourne. The monsieur you do not.

And the dogs you don't get to see either unless it is an outdoors café, event or a park. Do come next year and many thanks for having us, Paris to Provence.

Le Petit Lapin

Le Petit Lapin is a French place in Elsternwick known for crepes and French music. They have been opened since February and are only open one night per month to do a special dinner. They are open to high teas provided that they are booked ahead and for Melbourne Cup they are doing a champagne breakfast

Ahh they are thinking of having a wine and cheese session soon.

Everything here is homemade including their ice creams and sauces. RNIS bought the Groupon for $10 seeing as they love good French food, but they did not realise how far of a walk away from the train station it is. It is about a fifteen minute walk from there and there is only one bus to St Kilda every hour.

The place is very cosy inside.

The staff treated me well and they know their locals. In fact they loved speaking in French to a father and his two children.

The Groupon only allows a sweet crepe and hot drink for afternoon tea during Saturday and Sunday only.

This pina colada crepe I had was quite good. I loved the sorbet. The coconut sorbet worked well. They have tea amo tea which is great. Here they made it lovingly well. The crepe was light and not too thin.

Rating: 18/20- enjoyed the crepe, tea and music.

Bastille Day Celebrations at the State Library

RNIS was invited to the movie by the City of Melbourne.

We talk about the movie and about the exciting event in Melbourne.

On the 18th and the 19th of July there were Bastille day celebrations in Melbourne. Here there were stalls and some French music. Because the event was in the state library there were no food stalls except for the stall that sold macarons and Perrier water by the Bastille Day volunteers. I didn't need to buy the Perrier water and the macarons as these were supplied to the movie goers.

The macaron is from Cacao and was quite a joy to eat. Cacao's macarons are always lovely. The movie was normally $10.

The French Film was quite long and very entertaining. The actors and actress were all excellent as all the French actors are. The film was in black and white and was very dramatic at times. There was a shootout towards the end. The film was set just before the second world war in the Countryside in Paris. It is sort of like Romeo and Juilet where two families (in this case gangs) of people fight with each other about money and all. It features a lot of drinking and gambling and paying off the debts and rent.

Many thanks to the City of Melbourne for the invite.

Bastille Day fun at South Melbourne Market

Menu courtesy of chiukatherine on Instagram

RNIS went to this years Bastille Day celebrations and they had a jolly good time at both the celebrations. We talk about the event at South Melbourne Market which happens each year

Bastille day is a French day and it is about the French Revolution in 1978 and how the French army stormed the Bastille. Every year it is on the 14th of July and today is no exception. In Melbourne this is celebrated by a party at South Melbourne Market which is free of charge.

To get there from the city it is an easy 10 minute tram ride from the city and the stop is right behind the market.

It was a cold and wet winter's night but that didn't stop anyone from having some fun. And some fun we had listening to the lovely French music and enjoying Rachelette (a French dish with cheese, potatoes and salad). The Rachelette was $10 and I enjoyed it. But there was a wait for that and other foods especially oysters which were $1 each.

The market was decorated with a few balloons especially around the Koy stall.

Racelette courtesy of chiukatherine on Instagram

Of course there always has to be wine and kir royal. Many people drank but I did not.

Other places like Simply Spanish had their specials too. A paella was $13. But I was happy with my French food.

Do go to next years one as it is said to be bigger and better.