“July is the month Bastille Day is celebrated and this year we have the Paris Olympics, both of which inspired our members to celebrate French culture and music,” Urunga VIEW Club spokesperson Sharon Grainger told News Of The Area.

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A highlight of French month was the musical group “Miss Paris” entertaining members at their lunch meeting.

Malilah Howell, Mary Keily and Odile Lejus “created a delightful mood” with their French-style music.

This was complemented by Odile sharing the background to some of the songs.

Odile was born in Paris, migrated to Australia in 1988 and has lived in Bellingen since 1994.

“Some of the songs from the repertoire of ‘Miss Paris’ were written by Django Reinhardt, who was a gypsy guitarist who lived in the first half of the 20th century in Paris,” she said.

“He has been recognised as one of the most important jazz guitarists and was the inventor of jazz manouche, or ‘Gypsy Jazz’.

“Some other songs have been made famous by the singer Edith Piaf who started by playing in the streets before being an international star.”

Everyone enjoyed the relaxing melodies and, later, the foot tapping music that many members found familiar.

“We look forward to having ‘Miss Paris’ entertain us over lunch again; good music, good food, good company,” Ms Grainger said.

“[It is] always a wonderful experience and the added plus is that our VIEW members raise money for the Smith Family at the same time.”

By Andrea FERRARI