FINDING FRANCE IN AUSTRALIA

I’ve just been given a wonderful Christmas present: a book called Finding France in Australia, written by two Australian francophiles, one with a French husband, and published by Melbourne company Matheson Publishing. I’ve only been looking at it for ten minutes, but already I know when and how to find French language programs on Australian radio, where to find French restaurants in each capital city, with REAL French staff, French cooking classes, language classes, bilingual schools, a shop called Madame B in Melbourne that stocks French women’s clothes, and a French bookshop run by a Frenchman, in – of all places – Fremantle Western Australia.

The book also features excellent articles – on French wineries in Australia, on French cuisine, and one on the man who fought for several years to overturn the ban on the importation into Australia of French Roquefort cheese. There is also one of the clearest short summaries I’ve read recently on France’s long and complicated history. And most importantly of all – one hundred words you will find on French menus.