Emmanuel Macron has bid adieu to Sydney but the French president's Gallic charm seems set to linger for quite a while in Malcolm Turnbull's household.
Mr Macron, 40, raised eyebrows on Wednesday when he thanked the prime minister and his "delicious wife" for their hospitality and warm welcome on his first official trip to Australia, almost a year after he assumed presidency
The word for delicious in French - delicieux - translates as "delightful".
"Lucy was very flattered," Mr Turnbull told reporters on Thursday.
"She found the president's compliment as charming as it was memorable."
The quip about Mr Turnbull's 60-year-old spouse has garnered international media attention, in part because of the long-running interest in Mr Macron's relationship with his wife and former school teacher, Brigitte, who is 20 years his senior.
Mr Macron, who is only the second French president to visit Australia, spent his third and final day of his official trip to Sydney alongside Mr Turnbull at an indigenous art exhibition at Carriageworks in the inner city suburb of Eveleigh.
After spending much of yesterday locked in bilateral talks, the leaders viewed colourful displays curated for the 21st Biennale of Sydney before happily posing for cameras in front of orange and white acrylic linen paintings by Northern Territory artist George Tjungurrayi.
They were also treated to a seven-minute performance by Broome-based group Marrugeku whose song and dance, called Cut The Sky, touched on one of Mr Macron's favourite causes - the fight against climate change.
The French president listened intently as Mr Turnbull spoke to performer Dalisa Pigram after the show.
"The prime minister asked about a language word that we use back home, which is "liyan" ... used by the Yawuru people," Ms Pigram said.
"Liyan is like your inner strength, your spirit, and we in our culture believe to nurture that first and foremost.
"It might be visits to your own country to be in that place again, sit still or fish or do things so that you're continually connected to that spirit, but it's also your wellbeing and your inner emotions, your intuitions."
Mr Turnbull said: "It's like, they say the definition of poetry is that which can't be translated, so it's beautiful."
"Yeah, yeah, you have to accept it," Mr Macron replied, before checking with the West Australian dancer that liyan meant harmony between a person and the land.
"And he could say it! That was good," Ms Pigram said.
After one last group photo, thumbs-up and a farewell wave, Mr Macron's trip was over.
The French leader and his entourage are en route to New Caledonia, where locals are preparing for a referendum on independence from France in November.
