19th Jun 2024 11:29AMThe following text was contributed by the author of this article, Judy Siers, who gifted her copy of the magazine to Wellington City Libraries in 2024.

"What a lush palace that was! A place of banquets.
It was a favourite place of ours and we developed an interesting and quite special relationship with Madame Louise, her husband, and her assistant.
Because of our Polish connections with the continental community in Wellington, it was inevitable we would meet, and often it was with mutual friends at Le Normandie.
Jim's dad, Kazimiercz Sierpiniski had come to NZ after the war to find that his two boys had survived Siberia and were at the Pahiatua Polish refugee camp. He had settled in Taupo by the 1960s and was a fantastic fly fisherman. He could catch beautiful trout in quantities that meant a weekly delivery of a carton of huge rainbow and fontinalis trout that we could share amongst friends. Inevitably fresh water trout came to Le Normandie and we would invite friends and family for these fabulous dinners with trout being the special dish. There was often venison and wild pork too as Jim was an addicted hunter. This led to special deliveries to the restaurant and rarities that Madam would present with great pride - there was no commercial trout, venison or wild pork supply in those days. One simply had to know fisherman and hunters - and reliable ones!"