When France Meets Australia

An Enduring Cultural Exchange

Australia has long distilled ideas from France, remixing them with New World verve and vibrancy. In partnership with Chandon, the Australian trailblazer of sparkling wines, we salute some of the most enduring icons of that fruitful alliance.

Paris, observed Francophile Ernest Hemingway, is a movable feast, and that’s accurate even in terms of Australia. Over the decades, a flurry of French ideas have taken root in local terrain and blossomed in their own unique manner. The Gallic influence is evident in cultural, culinary and fashion realms. Here, we salute a handful of the ways in which France has left its mark.

Champagne is a region, a wine and a rarefied invention originating in northeast France. In 1986, Moët & Chandon, the Champagne masters, realised they could create superlative sparkling wines in Victoria by melding long-established French techniques, cool-climate grapes and rich loamy soils.

Since then, Chandon has led the way in the production of Australia’s answer to Champagne. Chandon is the perfect example of when France meets Australia: combining French Heritage and tradition, with Australian winemaking to create quality sparkling wines using the exact same method as in Champagne. Chandon’s sparkling wines are aged in bottles for a minimum of 18 months, a process that adds layers of complexity and texture to the wine.

France spawned modernism, the art movement that rejected tradition in favour of innovation and experimentation.

In the 1940s, Australian artists including Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester heard the clarion call of their French counterparts, and channelled the galvanic spirit of modernism in their own works.

Boyd’s studies of the Australian bush, Nolan’s iconic Ned Kelly series, Tucker’s Burke and Wills canvases, and Hester’s enigmatic drawings vigorously challenged the art establishment and redefined Australia art in the process. They ventured beyond modernism, surrealism and French symbolism to forge a bold new identity whose impact is still felt today.

The bikini was unveiled with a bang in Paris in 1946, and later immortalised by Brigitte Bardot on the beach in Cannes, but it was banned in numerous countries including Australia for many years.

Stories of bikini-clad women being arrested on Bondi Beach and Surfers Paradise were common in the 40s and 50s, before the two-piece swimsuit became an intrinsic part of fashion lore. Designer Paula Stafford was Australia’s earliest bikini exponent, selling her colourful wares to Selfridges and Liberty of London among other leading retailers.

In the intervening years, a slew of Australian brands, including Speedo and Seafolly, have woven the once risqué clothing item into the very fabric of our social history.

France’s impact on the local food scene can be seen in our embrace of its cooking techniques, devotion to seasonal eating and, of course, the insatiable appetite for flaky French pastries.

Croissants, once they were factory-made and frozen, became widely available in the late 1970s. But, more recently, the crescent-shaped confection has been granted a new lease of life care of avid artisan bakers.

Leading the vogue for the pastry is Melbourne’s Lune Croissanterie, where patrons line up to savour one of Kate Reid’s treats. Reid apprenticed at the Paris boulangerie, Du Pain et des Idees, before opening her own buzzy eatery, prompting The New York Times to ask: “Is the world’s best croissant made in Australia?”

This content was produced in association with Chandon. Read our policy on commercial content here.