Australian Country Homes – September 2019

22 Australian Country HOMES

O

ne of Jules François’
earliest memories is of
arriving in Sydney as
the eldest of six children
of a migrant family and living with
her maternal grandparents. While
most of the family was Scottish, her
grandfather was from Brittany and
he introduced a French sensibility
to the mix. “As well as me and my
siblings there were nine adults in

this household and they were all

obsessed with food and music,” she

recalls. “While they all infl uenced my

upbringing, unquestionably the most

important fi gure in my childhood was

my uncle, Harry.”

It was Uncle Harry who took Jules to

ballet when she started classes at the age

of four. The studio was located on top of

a pâtisserie and as a post-class treat he

would always buy her a palmier biscuit. It

was Uncle Harry also, who took the then

fi ve or six-year-old to the Art Gallery of

NSW and introduced her to the French

masters. “I remember standing in front

of Luminais’ Sons of Clovis and deciding

on the spot that I needed to fi nd out the

precise colours he had used so I could

recreate that magic,” Jules recalls. “I don’t

know what I would have become without

his infl uence, but I have no doubt that

he made a signifi cant contribution to my

evolution as a ballet- and food-loving,

Francophile artist.”

By the age of 10, Jules had also decided

she was going to live in France. In a sense

she did, as for 22 years she was married

to French chef François (Franck) François.

Their life in Sydney was punctuated

by annual northern winter visits to

France, starting in Paris and touring the

countryside catching up with family and

friends over countless rounds of aperitifs

followed by fi ne meals.

“When I met François he was the

chef of a celebrated Sydney restaurant,

Au Chabrol,” she recalls. “But he really

became a Sydney legend when we

opened La Gerbe d’Or, a pâtisserie and

boulangerie, in 1982. That bakery gave

me such a wealth of people who came

from all over Sydney to buy his bread

and pastries.”

François ran La Gerbe d’Or for 31 years,

during which time it became a landmark

for the queues of French expats and

lovers of fi ne food outside the tiny

Paddington store. In a neat twist of fate,

Jules recalls a group of Sydney Dance

Company dancers lived in the fl at above

the bakery and would always drop by for

pain au chocolat and coff ee fi rst thing in

the mornings.

Although the marriage ended, Jules

says she owes François enormous

gratitude for sharing his lifestyle and

encouraging the mentalité Française

which is such an important part of her

life today. Jules studied fi ne arts, but she

says she really found herself as an artist

These pages: A mentalité Française infuses every aspect of Jules’ home and lifestyle from the decor of

her kitchen and the way she cooks to the subjects she chooses for her still life paintings. ›