Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
Which is the sacred mountain for Catalans? When was the death penalty abolished? How many can you get right?
1. In a game of French chess, what is the bishop called?
A. l’évêque
B. le fou
C. l’ambassadeur
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B. It’s the same word as ‘crazy person’ but of a different etymology.
2. Which painter was a regular patron of the Moulin Rouge?
A. Toulouse-Lautrec
B. Picasso
C. Dali
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A. Picasso painted the Moulin Rouge, too, but he wasn’t a regular.
3. Which of these famous battles was not on French soil?
A. Battle of Waterloo
B. Battle of Agincourt
C. Battle of Verdun
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A. Waterloo is in Belgium. The battle (on June 18, 1815) was Napoleon I's final defeat, ending 23 years of recurrent warfare between France and the other powers of Europe.
4. In which year did the first International Film Festival take place in Cannes?
A. 1939
B. 1946
C. 1951
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1946.
5. Which mountain in the Pyrenees is considered to be the sacred mountain of the Catalans?
A. Mont Perdu
B. Pic du Midi
C. Mont Canigou
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C. Classified as a ‘Grand site de France’, Mont Canigou is the emblem of the Pyrénées-Orientales department and of the Catalan region.
6. How many English words are needed to translate the various meanings of the French word ‘faire’?
A. two
B. six
C. more than six
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C. According to the relevant page on wordreference.com there are many, many ways to render it into English. You’ll need the rest of the week if you want to list all the possible translations.
7. Which is the longest beach in France?
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The Côte d'Argent, backed by dunes and western Europe's largest forest, is the longest beach in France. It stretches from the Gironde estuary in the north to the headland that separates Anglet’s beaches from those of Biarritz. There is just one small break at the outlet of the Bay of Arcachon.
8. These three words all have to do with hot water. What do they mean: bouillie, bouilloire, and bouillotte?
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Mush, kettle and hot water bottle respectively.
9. Henri IV wanted all French people to be able to eat a certain dish every Sunday. What was it?
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La poule au pot (chicken in a pot). "If God still gives me life,” he is reported to have said, “I will make sure that there will not be a ploughman in my kingdom who cannot put a chicken in his cooking pot"
10. What is the name of the aperitif made by combining white wine and cassis liqueur?
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Kir.
11. Which district in Strasbourg has given its name to a beer?
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Kronenbourg.
12. Which European capital finally got a direct train connection to Paris in 2024?
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Berlin. A train linking the two capitals without the need for a change began operating in December 2024.
13. Who or what were the mascots of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?
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Les phryges, cartoon creatures representing a type of hat associated with the French Revolution. The Phrygian cap was worn by freed slaves in the Roman empire and adopted by the Revolutionaries as a symbol of freedom.
14. The 2024 Tour de France couldn’t finish in Paris because of the Olympic Games. Which city was chosen as a replacement end point?
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Nice. For the first time since the Tour began in 1903 it didn’t finish in or near Paris.
15. When was the death penalty abolished in France?
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In 1981. Until then, France continued to execute criminals using the guillotine. The abolition of the death penalty was later written into the constitution.
16. Where would you expect to find a naine blanche or a géante rouge?
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In the night sky, assuming you have a powerful telescope. They are types of stars: in English, a white dwarf and a red giant.
17. Who was the king of France at the time of the Three Musketeers?
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Louis XIII. Dumas’ story was written in the 19th century but is set between 1625 and 1628.
18. When you go to a French bar and you ask for a sérieux, a girafe or a galopin what will the barista give you in each case?
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A glass or a container of beer. A sérieux is a large glass of beer which generally contains 50cl. A girafe is a column of beer holding between one and five litres. A galopin is 12.5cl – used for tasting in small quantities.
19. A sapajou is a species of small American monkey but what does the word mean in colloquial French?
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A small, ugly and ridiculous man. Be careful how you use the description/insult.
20. From 1925 to 1934 a famous car brand displayed its name in bright lights stretching down the top half of the Eiffel Tower. Which company advertised itself in this way?
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Citroën.
