I think an excellent example of incongruous juxtaposition would be three Queenslanders and two New South Welshmen watching the State of Origin live in the lounge of a British pub in Lyon, and being served drinks by a Frenchman who learnt to speak English whilst growing up in Bali. This is the first time I have watched State of Origin on television with a New South Wales supporter in the room with me. The experts say that travel is a great educator and can make you more tolerant of those from other cultures. Sharing time and a hotel lounge with two Blues supporters wasn’t so bad at all, so there may be truth in that – pehaps travel has made me more tolerant of those from a different culture?

From my youth onwards there was always the caricature of the aloof Frenchman, one who would be sullen and would ignore rather than assist the traveller in need. So often the mantra was around the food being wonderful – but the locals so rude. This is only the second French city we have stayed in, and in our experience the opposite has been true. We have found the locals to be always ready to assist and to attempt to understand our awful attempts at speaking French. I have managed to say ‘Je ne parle pas francais’ quite fluently, which helps. Sadly, I suspect that it may be more likely that many Australians have been rude and ignorant travellers …

Lyon has been a wonderful city to stroll around. There are medieval walls behind our accommodation, a Roman road on the opposite side of the Rhone river that runs past our Air BnB, and the city is made up of such diverse districts. Our neighbourhood appears multicultural, but the history of migration to France is interesting. France has taken in a huge number of migrants and refugees – paticularly in the last 25 years. However, unlike Australia’s policies around multiculturalism, the emphasis in France since Jacobin-Republican times has been one of assimilation. Despite some more recent “The right to be different” movements since 2010 onwards, the older paradigm remains tenaciously fixed in French attitudes and laws.

If you wish to celebrate the country of your birth, you mustn’t be truly French. There are very few multicultural festivals. There are no government funded foreign language radio or TV stations – no French SBS. If you wish to be French, you must speak French. You have the right to religious freedom – so long as it doesn’t affect your ‘Frenchness’. There was a festival in the city centre last night – the food stalls were all serving French food, there was no evidence of other cultures being celebrated- even though a large proportion of the crowd were obviously of Central or North African heritage. Sadly, this policy of assimilation and integration probably played a large part in the Charlie Hebdo attacks of 2015.

My experiences in Lyon so far have certainly caused me to challenge my own thinking around multiculturalism, especially with regards to New South Welchmen. The guys we met in the pub yesterday actually seemed quite OK. Some Queenslanders I know have even migrated to Sydney and Melbourne, and the Sunshine State has gradually opened its borders to New South Welshmen since Covid. Now that Queensland has tied up the whole State of Origin series, perhaps we could have a festival in Toowoomba that celebrates the lesser states of Australia – particularly New South Wales and Victoria? I’d quite enjoy trying some of their food and listening to some of their music. In fact I think I might even put that proposal to our mayor when we get back home.

Farley