How well do you know France? Try our interactive quiz: February 2025
Who wrote Bonjour Tristesse? What is a pourboire? How many can you get right?
1. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin was the real name of A – Céline, B – Molière, C – Voltaire?
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1. B Moliére adopted his nom de plume in 1644. Experts today still argue over why he chose this particular name.
2. Which painter left Arles to go and live in Tahiti in 1891? A – Camille Pissarro, B – Vincent Van Gogh, C – Paul Gauguin.
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2. C Gauguin lived in Tahiti for two years before returning to France in 1893. He departed again for Tahiti in 1895, never to return to Europe. He died in Atuona, French Polynesia, in 1903.
3. In which French city was the first golf course in mainland Europe created? A – Lyon, B – Pau, C – Bordeaux.
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3. B Pau Golf Club, in southwestern France, opened in 1856.
4. Who wrote Bonjour Tristesse (1954) when she was still only a teenager? A – Françoise Sagan, B – Marguerite Yourcernar, C – Simone de Beauvoir.
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4. A. Françoise Sagan was only 18 when her first book was published. Her pseudonym was taken from Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. She died in 2004, aged 68.
5. What does the French abbreviation OVNI mean? A – Organisation de Viticulteurs Nantais Indépendants, B – Organisme de Vente de Nitrates Insoluble, C – Objet Volant Non Identifié.
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5. C. However, the French space agency now prefers the term PAN for “phénomène aérospatial non identifié.”
6. In Spain you may give a propina to someone and in Italy a mancia. In France it would be a pourboire. What is it ?
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6. A tip for service received in a restaurant, hotel, taxi etc. Generally tipping is not socially required in France but it is good etiquette to round up the bill if you have had good service.
7. The 4th Century St Augustin and the 18th Century Jean-Jacques Rousseau both wrote books with the same title. What is it?
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7. The Confessions. The latter is sometimes called The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau to distinguish it from St Augustine’s book.
8. What takes place in the Hotel Drouot in Paris?
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8. Hôtel Drouot is an auction house selling fine art, antiques, and antiquities. It consists of 16 halls hosting 70 independent auction firms, which operate under the umbrella grouping of Drouot.
9. What do the late Marie Curie, Josephine Baker and Simone Veil have in common?
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9. They are all buried in Le Panthéon in Paris.
10. The 50m Corinthian column known as Colonne de la Grande-Armée in Wimille, Pas-de-Calais was originally commissioned to commemorate the invasion of which country?
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10. England. In 1802 Napoleon intended to take an army across the Channel to continue his conquests. The column was planned to celebrate the ensuing victory but work was halted when the invasion never happened. It was finished in different circumstances in 1821. It is said that on a clear day the coast of England can be seen from the top.
11. After Paris, which was the second French city to have a Metro?
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11. Marseille: its metro network opened in 1977; although technically, Lyon’s first line was inaugurated in 1974. The Paris metro came into operation in 1900.
12. La Vanoise, Port-Cros and Les Pyrénées are all examples of what?
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12. They are all national parks
13. Which two rivers delimit (to north and south) the Bordeaux wine region of Entre-Deux-Mers?
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13. The Dordogne and the Garonne
14 Which Spanish artist died in 1973 in Mougins, near Cannes, when he was 91 years old?
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14. Pablo Picasso
15. According to the popular press at least, what non-sportive record was broken during the 2024 Paris Olympics?
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15. The most marriage proposals ever during an Olympic Games. The recorded number varies from 7 to 11 depending which source you believe.
16. Which medieval order of chivalry created the basic rules of modern accounting?
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16. The Knights Templar. They developed innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building a network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.
17. What kind of fruit (in English) grows on a cognassier tree
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17. The fruit is called coing in French; in English it is quince
18. More than 300 schools in France are named after Marie Curie who discovered radioactivity, but she wasn’t born French. What was her original nationality?
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18. Polish. She was born in Poland on 7 November 1867. She took French nationality on marrying Pierre Curie in 1895.
19. What are the grains of lemons, oranges and grapefruit called in French?
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19. Les pépins.
20. Some French people – Parisians especially – have been accused of ‘glottophobie’. What is it?
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20. It is discrimination due to people's regional accents.
