Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
Which town hosts a citrus-based festival? What do the letters FDJ stand for? - How many can you get right?
1. Menhir (large stone) throwing, a sport rooted in ancient Celtic tradition, is practiced in Guerlesquin (Brittany). With which cartoon character is menhir carrying and throwing associated?
A) Tintin
B) Lucky Luke
C) Obelix
D) Spirou
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C. He has supernatural strength because he fell into a pot of magic potion when he was a baby.
2. On May 31, 2025 Paris St Germain FC won the Champions League for the first time in its history. Which team did it defeat?
A) Barcelona
B) Inter Milan
C) Manchester City
D) Liverpool
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2. B
3. The independence of which former colony in 1962 forced the migration of around a million people of European descent to France?
A) Algeria
B) Vietnam
C) Madagascar
D) Morocco
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A. Algeria had been under French rule for about 130 years, during which time Europeans from various countries settled there and became French citizens. The descendants of many of these people took refuge from possible persecution in France.
4. In which town can you join in the Fête du Citron celebrations, where large floats are made from hundreds of lemons and oranges?
A) Calvi
B) Nice
C) Menton
D) Toulon
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C. The Fête du Citron is held at the end of winter.
5. Which prolific American writer was so disappointed by the translation of one of his stories that he complained that the French “always tangle up everything to that degree when you start into a sentence you never know whether you are going to get out alive or not.”?
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Mark Twain, in “The Jumping Frog: in English, then in French then clawed back into a civilized language once more by patient, unremunerated toil,” a witty, literal back into English from the French translation. One sentence, for instance, reads “What is this then that you have there shut up within?"
6. What is the name of the palace in the Drôme painstakingly built by a postman on his own over 30 years and which is classed as a national monument?
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Le Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval.
7. Which Scottish crime writer lived with his family for six years in the Dordogne before he hit the big time in 1997?
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Ian Rankin. He and his wife Miranda moved to a remote farmhouse where they could live relatively cheaply and he could write in peace until his career took off.
8. At just 23 years old, Violette Dorange became a favourite of French sports in 2024. What did she accomplish?
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She was the youngest sailor ever to complete the Vendée Globe, the gruelling solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race. She completed the race in 90 days, 22 hours, and 37 minutes, breaking the previous record set by Alan Roura in 2016.
9. Which couturier, who designed Madonna’s cone bra for her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, is considered as the enfant terrible of fashion thanks to his androgynous and unisex collections?
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Jean Paul Gaultier
10. With its flagship store on Boulevard Haussmann, in Paris, which 19th Century store is renowned for its stunning glass dome, Art Nouveau architecture, and lavish interiors?
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Les Galeries Lafayette
11. Which French chateau was used as an inspiration for the setting of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 2017?
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Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley
12. Which conurbation in northeastern France runs up to the border of Belgium?
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Lille
13. The letters FDJ (and associated symbol) appear in all newsagents’ and tobacco shops all over France. What do these letters stand for?
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Française des Jeux. It is the name of the operator of France’s national lottery and the country’s largest gambling company which is partially state-owned. It offers a range of games such as Loto, EuroMillions and scratch cards.
14. What is a ‘bouillabaisse'?
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A traditional Provençal fish stew made with various types of fish, shellfish, and aromatic herbs, typically served with garlicky mayonnaise and crusty bread.
15. Marguerite Gautier, the tragic heroine of La Dame aux Camélias, is one of the most poignant female figures in French literature, whose story based on a real life courtesan inspired Verdi’s opera La Traviata. The novel was written by Alexandre Dumas – but was it the father or the son (of the same name) who wrote it?
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The son, inspired by his own love affair with the courtesan Marie Duplessis.
16. What are the French talking about when they refer to L’Hémicycle?
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The Assemblée Nationale: France’s parliament. Specifically, the ‘hémicycle’ refers to the shape of the session room of the Palais Bourbon.
17. Charles Dickens visited France frequently. He particularly loved Paris but his family also spent summer in a town on the Channel coast. Which one?
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Boulogne-sur-Mer
18 Bonnet Blanc and Blanc Bonnet are the French names of two characters from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. Who are they?
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Tweedledum and Tweedledee
19. What three letter word appears on a French wine table to indicate the wine comes from a superior vineyard?
20. Apart from French, another language, related to Catalan, is spoken across much of southern France. What is it called?
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Occitan, also known as Langue d'oc, is a Romance language in southern France, Monaco, parts of Italy, and the Val d'Aran in Spain. Collectively, these regions are sometimes referred to as Occitania. According to the Office Publique de la Langue Occitane (OPLO), over 500,000 people speak it.
