Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
What is the most popular French radio station? What 19th-Century artists are associated with the city of Arles? See how many you can get right…
1. Which scientist is reported to have said, “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed": A) Marie Curie B) Antoine Lavoisier, C) Louis Pasteur
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B) This famous phrase appears in the Traité élementaire de chimie by Antoine Lavoisier, an 18th Century French chemist, to explain the fact that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed.
2. In the 1960s French sportsman Raymond Pulidor, nicknamed "Pou-Pou", had a reputation for always finishing second in which sport? A) cycling B) rally driving C) motocross.
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2. A) Raymond Poulidor was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for Mercier his entire career.
3. The Academie Française awards the annual Prize Cognacq-Jay. Who is eligible to apply for it? A) student who scored the highest marks in the Baccalaureat in each region, B) families with a large number of children, C) the author of the best poetry book of the year.
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3. B) Created in 1922, the prize was created by Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jaÿ to help large families. Originally, nine children was the minimum; now it is four.
4. What is “La ringuette”? A) an open air café in the middle of a park or on the beach, B) a game played on ice, C) a lullaby.
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4. B) It is a non-contact winter team sport played on an ice rink using skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on slippery surfaces.
5. Which painter spent the last years of his life in Giverny? A) Claude Monet B) Edouard Manet or C) Jean Renoir?
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A) Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. His beautiful gardens, particularly the water lily pond and Japanese bridge, are portrayed in many of his famous works.
6. Which French palace is the primary setting for the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, featuring Kirsten Dunst, and directed by Sofia Coppola, about the extravagant life of the young French queen?
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6) The Palace of Versailles
7. What famous setting do the films Amélie (2001), La La Land (2016) and Moulin Rouge! (2001) have in common?
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7. Montmartre and Sacre Coeur church
8 What is the name of the traditional Provençal dish made from stewed vegetables, including tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), peppers, onions, and garlic, and seasoned with thyme and basil?
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8) Ratatouille
9. If you ask for a “pain au chocolat” (a chocolate-filled pastry) in parts of south-west France you might not be understood. What is its other recognised name?
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9) Une chocolatine.
10. What are The Tortoise and the Hare, The Fox and the Grapes, and The Ant and the Grasshopper?
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10) Fables by La Fontaine in which animals with human traits are used to illustrate an often moral lesson.
11. A broken bridge in Avignon features in the name of a famous song. What are the exact words of the chorus?
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11) “Sur le pont d'Avignon, On y danse, on y danse, Sur le pont d'Avignon, On y danse tous en rond.”
12. In which year was the bicentenary of the French Revolution celebrated?
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12) 1989. Margaret Thatcher, visiting Paris, used the occasion to remark that the British invented the Rights of Man long before the French Revolutionaries.
13. What versatile characteristic do these French first names share: Camille, Claude and Valéry?
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13) They are used both for men and women.
14. Which footballer was a key player for the French national team during their 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship wins, and later became a highly successful coach at Real Madrid?
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14) Zinédine Zidane.
15. The French national rugby team is known officially as L’Equipe de France but it is more often referred to by which colour-coded nickname?
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15. Les Bleus (The Blues) after their primary strip.
16. Which is the most popular French radio station?
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16) France Inter, which has a weekday audience of over seven million listeners. It offers a mix of news, talk shows and cultural programming.
17. Which two late-19th Century artists are strongly associated with the city of Arles?
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17. Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin who spent an intense and tumultuous period there in 1888.
18. The words “pognon,” “fric,” “l’oseille” and “blé” all refer to the same substance. What?
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18. Money. They are all informal or slang words for it.
19 Which French actress retired from acting in 1973 so that she could devote herself to defending animal rights?
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19. Brigitte Bardot. As a result of her commitment the import of seal skins into France was banned, a measure which, a few years later, was extended to all member countries of the European Community.
20. Who popularised the Little Black Dress in the 1920s?
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20. Coco Chanel, who believed that black could be chic and elegant, transforming how women perceived and wore the colour.
