Ah, Paris! I travelled there as a twenty-something in the eighties on a Contiki tour. I was brimful of excitement and alcohol. While I marvelled at the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and the Louvre, I did not appreciate the overall magic of what I was experiencing. When I returned with my partner in my sixties, I was intoxicated by the sheer romance of the place.

Louise Blackwell lived in Paris for 10 years on a student visa until the Immigration Department determined that she had one degree too many and cancelled her visa. In that time, she immersed herself in the artistic scene, particularly the jazz scene.

Returning to Australia, Blackwell found that her jazz audiences lapped up the occasional French song she inserted into her performances, to the point that she eventually switched to an entirely French repertoire.

And why not? If you can’t get there, Blackwell and her French Set transport you there with a show that encompasses the Paris of Piaf, the Paris where Miles Davis walked hand in hand with his new girlfriend Juliette Gréco, and Paris in its heyday.