Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
Which military innovation did France create during World War One? What is a muselet? - How many can you get right?
1. What are we talking about when we talk about “Palet breton” in Brittany?
A. A game played with flat metallic round pieces.
B. A team game played with a flat wooden bat and rubber ball
C. A potato dish served with haricots
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A. It is a game played with flat metallic round pieces.
2. Marguerite Yourcenar wrote the fictionalised memoir of which Roman emperor?
A. Tiberius
B. Antoninus Pius
C. Hadrian
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C. Hadrian.
3. Which Simone was the long-life lover of Jean-Paul Sartre?
A. Simone Veil
B. Simone Signoret
C. Simone de Beauvoir
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C. They were married but maintained an open relationship, each with different lovers.
4. Which of the following places is famous as Napoleon Bonaparte’s first place of exile?
A. Elba
B. St Helena
C. Capri
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A. After Napoleon Bonaparte’s disastrous campaign in Russia ended in defeat, he was forced into exile on Elba.
5. France is credited with developing what military innovation during World War One?
A. Camouflage
B. Aerial reconnaissance
C. Tanks
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B. France employed painters such as Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola to develop techniques to hide soldiers and artillery from aerial reconnaissance (also a new military tool in World War One). Camouflage comes from the French camoufler meaning “to disguise”.
6. Which dynasty of kings ruled France while Henry VIII of the Tudors was on the throne of England?
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The Valois dynasty (1328-1589). The French monarchs of the time were Louis XII (1498-1515) and Francis I (1515-47)
7. In which city in western France was Jules Verne born?
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Verne was born on February 8, 1828, on Île Feydeau, a then small artificial island on the river Loire within the town of Nantes.
8. The city of Lyon has Roman origins. What was its name at that time?
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Lugdunum
9. Which eastern French city has a landmark fountain featuring four elephants?
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The Éléphants fountain is located in the town of Chambéry, in the French department of Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
10. Which department does Chaource cheese come from?
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Its name comes from the village of Chaource in the Aube department.
11. Which French town’s railway station featured in the Lumière Brothers’ first piece of cinematography in 1893?
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La Ciotat.
12. On a champagne bottle, what is a muselet?
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The wire cage holding the cork in place to prevent it from emerging under the pressure of the gaseous contents.
13. France was the first country to adopt a new sport in 1893, what was it?
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The first European basketball game was played in Paris in December 1893. The French youth were influenced by American culture to play basketball. French basketball teams led in the 1930s European Competition and after World War Two.
14. Which woman minister is credited with getting the pro-abortion law passed in France?
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Simone Veil, a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament. She is best remembered for advancing women’s rights in France, in particular for the 1975 law that legalised abortion.
15. Which painter had an argument with Van Gogh when they were living together in Arles?
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Gauguin and Van Gogh were known to have a tumultuous relationship, made up of ups and downs, and their legendary arguments were commonplace.
16. What does “Donner sa langue au chat” mean?
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This means that you are unable to solve a riddle or a problem, despite your best efforts to find the answer, and that you give up.
17. What was the name of Jacques Cousteau’s ship, a re-purposed America minesweeper?
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RV (Research Vessel) Calypso, named after the Greek mythological figure.
18. Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier was the tragic guinea pig for a famous machine. Which one?
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The guillotine.
19. What would you be doing if you were inside an “isoloir”?
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Voting. It is the private booth in a polling station in which you choose your ballot.
20. The abbreviation P.M.U. seen above shops and bars all over France, denotes a betting shop. What do the letters stand for?
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Le Pari Mutuel Urbain.
