On the Bastille Day weekend it seems most of the world is thinking about France. Eating French meals. Drinking Champagne. And watching movies with subtitles and narrators.

Despite this, not many people can just zip off for a French weekend. Or can they?

The fact is that the French were such energetic colonisers a couple of centuries ago, that many parts of the world even if they are not still Departemnts or TOMs (Territories Outré-mer) still retain enough 'Frenchness' to retain a French flavour.

When you think of it, anyone, almost anywhere in the world can have a French Getaway on the Bastille Day weekend.

The Brits (and Europeans) have it best, of course. They can be in Paris within a few hours; rural France in a couple more.

From Africa, the exotic Réunion Island beckons, From the US, several Caribbean islands (Saint Martin, Saint Barthéleay, Guadeloupe and Martinique) are close enough to visit, and of course Canada has Quebec and Montreal.

F&T is based in Australia, but even this far from France there are Gallic pockets in the Pacific. So wherever you are, why not put on your beret, pack your French dictionary and embrace la vie Française for the weekend.

New Caledonia

A French 'special collectivity' with a Scottish name - what were they thinking of?

How do you do this? Travel 2.5 hours from Sydney and, in less time than you'd be in Mudgee, switch cultures, languages, and even the side of the road you drive on?

Impossible? Not if you zip off to New Caledonia for the week, or even a romantic weekend. Somehow it's the destination everyone thinks of as much further away. Maybe it's the relaxed feel of the place.

Many Australians are hardly aware there is a splash of France in the Pacific. And so close too. A mere croissant throw away.

Tontouta airport is 45 minutes north of Noumea, the capital where you can join the locals as they jog and stroll along waterside boulevards, stand silently watching as silver balls make their soft 'petanque' sound in a ritual evening game, maybe get in some serious shopping, or simply snorkel the day away.

At the waterfront markets, bundles of crusty French bread keep company with taro and tiny spiky pineapples. This is where, on Saturday morning, Madame Noumea, shopping bag at the ready, comes to stock up on her weekend supplies - manioc and the freshest fruit and vegetables, bright-eyed fish, patisserie, and even flowers for the table, and she pays in French Pacific Francs.

For you must never forget that this is a self-governing French TOM - Territoire Outre Mer (overseas territory) straddling Melanesian and European culture, while somehow - mostly - keeping its balance. French is the lingua franca here, and while you will possibly get along in English (at least in Noumea) it's best to pack a phrasebook.

Most visitors come specifically to Noumea, but limit yourself to this town and its beaches, the French restaurants and top-end hotels, and you miss much of what makes New Caledonia tick. The cigar-shaped 400-plus kilometre-long 50 kilometre-wide main island of Grande Terre, which translates to the fairly plain name of 'big land', has much to offer.

The best way to see the rest of the island (or, as New Caledonians refer to anything outside of Noumea, 'la brousse', the outback) is by road. Hire a car, position yourself carefully on the right-hand side of the road and head north from Noumea, through the suburbs of painted wooden bungalows, past the airport turnoff and suddenly you are in postcard-land.

There are those strange rock formations at Bourail that you've seen in photographs and the ubiquitous stands of white trunked naiouli trees, a sort of paperbark, that turns up distilled into something like tea-tree oil in tiny bottles in the shops in Noumea.

To dip your toes into French waters quickly you can now forget that 24-hour flight to France. This way you can find yourself wining and dining a la Français, the same day, almost within sight of Australia?  read more....

How to get there? Fly from Sydney and be there in 2.5 hours.

What to do there? Diving and water sports. Relaxing at resorts or on the beach. Exploring the islands. Wining and dining French-style.

Read more....

More information...

France in Australia

French couple Remi and Ginette Bancal's bed and breakfast property, Glencoe Rural Retreat, in the north of Tasmania is a little piece of France just an hour by air from Melbourne.

Their background includes many years at the Ritz of Paris, as well as Miettas in Melbourne and Banc in Sydney. In 1999 Ginette and Remi established Calstock Country Guesthouse in northern Tasmania before moving on to this property.

Better still it's easily accessible from the Bass Strait ferry terminals and an ideal jumping off point for Cradle Mountain and the state's wilderness areas, not to mention nearby Sheffield, known for its dozens of murals on buildings throughout the town.