Molière, John Calvin and Charles Perrault are all famous alumni of which French university?
Coco was not the real name of famous fashion designer Coco Chanel. There are many theories as to where her nickname came from, with some saying that it was from a song she used to sing during her brief stint as a singer, whilst others say that it was a short form of the word ‘cocotte’, meaning a prostitute. But what was her real name?
Which English rock star likes to spend his holidays at his Château de Fourchette in the region Indre-et-Loire?
In which city in the north of France was Joan of Arc burnt at the stake in 1431?
In 1889, French brothers Edouard and André Michelin founded the tyre company Michelin. To increase tyre sales, the brothers created the Michelin Guide, a small information book filled with maps and information for travellers which they hoped would encourage people to take to the roads more. Today, the guide is most famous for the Michelin star restaurant rating system. When was the first Michelin Guide published?
In what year was Jacques Chirac elected for the first time as President of France?
Which French doctor invented the stethoscope in 1816?
What is both a musical instrument and the French word for a paper clip?
In English Marmite is known as the love-it-or-hate-it spread, but what does this word mean in French?
Which material’s name in English comes from the French word for rag?
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French Quiz - November 2019
Which are the only vineyards, apart from Champagne, in which hand harvesting is mandatory? Hint: ⅓ of the wine produced there is famed for being released every year on the third hursday of November.
Which word is used as an endearment to a boyfriend or husband and is also the French baby talk for “cat”?
What would you order if you wished to eat very thinly sliced raw steak or fish?
What is French toast called in French?
Which satirical left wing newspaper started during the First World War, features investigative journalism, cartoons and jokes, was a victim of censorship, and does not accept any form of advertisement within its pages?
Which French currency stopped being used after the beheading of King Louis the XVI in 1792?
Which classic French dessert combines egg whites and “crème anglaise” (custard)?
Which ancient Unesco heritage monument started as an aqueduct, then became a tollgate in the Middle Ages and finally a road bridge from the 18th to 20th century?
In what year did France ban smoking in indoor public places?
Which is the only DOM-ROM (Overseas Departments and Regions) that is not an island or archipelago?
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French Quiz - October 2019
Which part of the duck or poultry are called “gésiers” in French?
What do you call a wind turbine in French?
What are bagpipes called in French?
The 1st November is dedicated to remembering the dead, often by placing chrysanthemums on graves; what is this day called in French?
Who painted the daring nude “The Origin of the World” which is now exhibited at the Musée d’Orsay?
Which artist won an NRJ music award for Francophone Breakthrough in 2011 and dated François Hollande’s son?
What is the name of the game show first aired in 1990, which takes place on a fort south of the Ile de Ré?
Which is the longest river in France?
How do you refer to a young wine, destined to be consumed within the first few months after the fermentation process takes place?
Which perfume was created in 1921 and remains arguably the most iconic fragrance in the world?
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French Quiz - September 2019
What is a chestnut burr called in French?
What do French people call the period in early September when children go back to school?
Which ultimately comforting stew is named after its region of origin and the wine it contains?
Which animal is Looney Tunes character Pepe Le Pew?
In what year did the first girl pass her BAC?
Who composed the Gymnopédies?
What do French people call porcini mushrooms?
It takes 25 people 18 months to repaint the Eiffel tower by hand; how many tonnes of paint do they use?
Which French startup has created an online method enabling clients to buy food from local producers?
Which French association, known worldwide for its work in wartorn countries and natural disaster zones received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999?
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French Quiz - June 2019
Which female sports team is nicknamed “Les Braqueuses” (the robbers)?
What was Lamartine’s first name?
Who was the first French astronaut to visit the ISS?
Which French philosopher wrote “I think therefore I am.”?
Which Jean-Luc Godard film remains a classic example of French New Age Cinema?
Where can you find the following quote; “voter est un droit, c’est aussi un devoir civique”? (“Voting is a right, it is also a civil duty.”)
Monks from the Aubrac are said to have developed the recipe for which speciality combining mashed potatoes and cheese?
Which female rap artist sang “si t’as les critères babe laisse moi ton email”and retired from show business after converting to Islam?
What is Whitsun called in French?
The Père Lachaise cemetery contains numerous famous burial plots. But where is Napoléon Bonaparte buried?
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French Quiz - May 2019
What is the name of the transatlantic single-handed yacht race from Saint Malo to Guadeloupe?
Which French comic book series was turned into a film starring Oscar winning Jean Dujardin?
How do you spell “choir” and “heart” in French?
Who is the French singer known as “Cloclo”?
Which salad, with multiple variations mostly include boiled eggs, tuna, and green beans is named after a town on the Riviera?
Which nightly soap opera set in Marseille has aired over 3000 episodes since 2004?
How many French films had over 1 million admissions in cinemas in 2017?
With over 300 fashion shows in Paris every year and 1,000,000 jobs in the industry, what percentage of French GDP is generated by the fashion industry?
The Le Pliage handbag is lightweight, practical, and synonymous with French style with over 32 million bags sold to date; which brand created this line of bags?
Who designed the Stravinsky fountain outside the Centre George Pompidou in Paris and was known for her voluptuous and colourful sculptures?
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Who painted the “Liberty Leading the People”?
What are April fools called in French?
His “nom de plume” was Voltaire; do you know his real name?
How do you spell “colonist” and “colon”in French?
Name the singer/songwriter and poet born in Sète who was awarded the Grand Prix de Poésie by the Académie française in 1967.
Which famous French dish inspired an eponymous animation film in 2007?
How many times has France won Eurovision?
What revolutionary item of clothing did Jacques Heim and Louis Réard invent in 1946?
Christian tradition prohibits the ringing of church bells for 3 days between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday while mourning Christ. To explain this, French children were told that the bells were sent to Rome to be blessed and would return dropping gifts along the way… What do the bells bring back with them?
Which French company is known worldwide for its advertising systems in bus stops, public bicycle rental systems, and billboards?
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French Quiz - August 2018
Which French artist who created a trio of striking paintings called Les Oiseaux on a ceiling in the Louvre, is recognised as a co-founder with Picasso of the Cubist movement?
Known until 1980 as the New Hebrides, what is the only sovereign nation in Oceania which counts French as one of its official languages?
An ‘aubade’ is traditionally a poem or song which deals with lovers parting from each other at what time of day?
What global intergovernmental organisation moved its headquarters in 1989 from Saint-Cloud in the suburbs of western Paris, to the Quai Charles de Gaulle in Lyon?
What three-letter English acronym represents an item often said to be an essential in the wardrobe of any woman, one of Coco Chanel’s most enduring contributions to the world of fashion?
The Statue of Liberty was designed by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, but which famous engineer was responsible for overseeing most of its construction,from 1880 onwards?
Which chart hit, a UK No 1 for both Elvis Presley in 1962 and UB40 in 1993, used the famous melody of the 18th century French love song Plaisir d’Amour?
Which key staff member in a restaurant is usually seen as the ‘second-in-command’, who has responsibility for the presentation of food and for discipline, rosters and training?
The name of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier is remembered in France due in large part to his championing during the late 18th century of what previously suspect foodstuff?
What small town on France’s Atlantic coast gives its name to the huge triangle-shaped tidal bay or ‘bassin’, which indents the otherwise straight coastline 30 miles south of Bordeaux?
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French Quiz - July 2018
What keyboard symbol has seen vastly increased use in the last 20 years and is known in French as ‘l’arobase’?
Already an Olympic silver medallist, in what track and field event did Parisian Kévin Mayer become world champion in London in August 2017?
What is the English name of the island in the Atlantic known in one of the official languages of the country to which it belongs as ‘Terre-Neuve’?
Which Lennon & McCartney composition was performed in 1964 by Johnny Hallyday under the title ‘Quand je l’ai vue devant moi’?
What is the usual two-word English name for the fungal grape infection Botrytis cinerea which imparts a distinctive flavour to Sauternes wines from the Bordeaux region?
One of the most famous 20th century poems in the English language, who created the work which contains the words, “Et O ces voix d’enfants, chantant dans la coupole!”
Former French Republican politician Michel Barnier was appointed to what role within the European Union in December 2016?
Cultivated in order to complement the local Mediterranean cuisine, between half and two thirds of all wine produced in the vineyards of Provence is of what general type?
By what diminutive name is Margaret of Valois, wife of Henri of Navarre, known in the title of a 1994 French film in which she was played by Isabelle Adjani?
Who was pictured in a famous photograph taken on the front terrace of the Palais de Chaillot on June 6th 1940, with the Eiffel Tower in the immediate background?
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French quiz - June 2018
A staple of British pantomime, how is the fairy tale figure characterised in the 17th century by Charles Perrault as ‘Le Chat Botté’, known in the English speaking world?
Which city in the south of France is dominated by a Roman arena used today for bullfights and concerts, built nearly 2000 years ago when the place was called Colonia Nemausus?
What communications marvel was once designated ‘le courriel’ by the Académie Française, even though the average Frenchman is still as likely to refer to it by its English name?
Aquaculturist Tony Berthelot installed a refrigerated vending machine in his shop on the Atlantic Ile de Ré in 2017, to dispense what fresh local delicacy 24 hours a day?
What is the name of the famous lighthouse with a French name on the southern tip of Jersey, which might bring to mind a popular 1980s winner of the Grand National steeplechase?
Which French soldier who gave the ‘Fire!’ command to the firing squad at his own execution in December 1815, was called by Napoleon ‘Le Brave des Braves’?
What general name for sweet or savoury appetizers comes from the fact that they were originally made in small adjacent ovens as a by-product of the cookery of the main meal?
To a typist, what is the French language equivalent of the QWERTY keyboard layout, so called because of the first six keys on the top row of letters?
Which future Oscar-winning actress starred opposite Russell Crowe as irresistible Provençale café owner Fanny Chenal, in the 2006 film version of Peter Mayle’s novel A Good Year?
In July 2017, the EU supported a French government ban on the ride-hailing service software app of which often controversial San Francisco-based company?
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French quiz - May 2018
‘On y danse, on y danse’ (‘People dance there, people dance’) is the second line of which very well-known traditional French song?
What was the French name of the British ship-of-the-line which fought at Trafalgar and which can be seen in a famous painting by J.M.W. Turner, on its way to the breaker’s yard in 1838?
What is the name of the footballer who moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in the summer of 2017 for a world record fee of nearly £200 million?
Which orange-flavoured Cognac liqueur created in 1880 and most familiar in its ‘Cordon Rouge’ edition, is typically used as an alternative to Cointreau in Sidecar and Margarita cocktails?
Which oil company from Aquitaine whose name was a three-letter acronym for French Gasoline and Lubricants, was merged into the multinational concern which became ‘Total’ in 2003?
Name the unfinished novel by concentration camp victim Irène Némirovsky, published only in 2004, and made into a film starring Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts in 2015.
What is the most obvious British equivalent of the French organisation known as the Fédération Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse (FUAJ)?
Which famous Parisian thoroughfare runs along the north side of the Louvre as far as the Place de la Concorde, and takes its name from a 1797 battle won in Italy by Napoleon?
What alliterative term encapsulating vigour and excitement became closely associated in the UK with footballer Thierry Henry, after he used it in a series of Renault Clio TV adverts?
What nine-letter French word is used in English to lend a little upmarket glamour to a product which is essentially a stewed fruit preserve – or, in other words, jam?
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French Quiz - April 2018
What traditional Parisian tourist conveyances take their familiar name from the area of Lyon where they were first built, and not, as many think, from a type of insect?
A version of which BBC quiz show has been broadcast on the TV station France 3 since 2011 under the title Personne n’y avait pensé! (‘No one thought of it!’)?
Who returned home from exile in Paris on a chartered Air France flight to assume the effective leadership of his country, on February 1st, 1979?
In the field of leisure activity in France, what are Les Arcs, Les Carroz, Les Gets and Les Menuires?
Which Picardy town near Arras has a five-letter name which is 80% vowel, and is famous for an English Catholic translation of the Old Testament, published there in 1609?
What late 18th century hyphenated term for the lower classes who wore trousers rather than knee-breeches, might today be used colloquially as an equivalent to ‘going commando’ in English?
Taken from the book of Genesis, what is the French title of the 1956 film directed by Roger Vadim which rocketed the 22-year old Brigitte Bardot to global fame?
Which very famous pop song, played more often at British funerals than any other, was in its original version a 1968 French hit by Claude François, when it was called ‘Comme d’habitude’?
What was first represented by the length of a platinum bar kept at theInternational Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris from 1799 to 1889, when it was infinitesimally altered?
Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre and Marie Galante are the three principal islands of which French overseas département located in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles?
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