Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
What is a diabolo? What is the shortest name of a village or town in France? How many answers can you get right?
After which French town is Madonna's daughter named?
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1. What is a “guêpière”? A. a nest of wasps, B. a kind of underwear, C. an exercise machine.
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B. It is a piece of lingerie combining an integrated bra, whalebones and suspenders. Favoured by icons such as Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, it became the iconic uniform of Hugh Hefner's Bunny Girls. The name refers to a “wasp-like” waist.
2. Loïs Boisson is a French sportswoman who came to prominence in 2025. Is she: A. an Olympic champion swimmer, B. the captain of France’s women’s football team, C. a tennis player?
3. Charlemagne's army was retreating over the Pyrenees when his rear guard was ambushed. Roland, a legendary hero, blew his horn to summon help but died a noble death. On which pass did this take place? A. Col du Tourmalet, B. Col de Puymorens, C. Col de Roncevaux (also called Ibañeta)?
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C. The col is above St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the French Basque Country. The battle inspired the epic poem La Chanson de Roland, one of the oldest and greatest works of French medieval literature.
4. If you ask for a “diabolo” in a French bar, what will you be served?
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A non-alcoholic drink that consists of a mixture of lemonade and syrup (typically mint or grenadine).
5. After which southern French town did Madonna name her daughter, who was born in 1996?
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Lourdes
6. What is the name of the only state theatre in France, and one of the oldest active theatres in the world, with its own permanent troupe of actors, known as the “Sociétaires”?
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La Comédie-Française, renowned for preserving and performing classic French repertoire, especially the works of Molière.
7. La Pourcailhade, also called La Fête du Cochon (Festival of the Pig), is held in August in Trie-sur-Baïse, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées. What is the main attraction of this festival?
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Le Championnat de France du Cri de Cochon, in which contestants imitate the grunting of pigs.
8. What is the shortest name of a village or town in France?
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“Y” is the name of a village in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France. The inhabitants are called Yssois or Ypsilonniens.
9. What is Le Passage du Gois in Beauvoir-sur-Mer, in the Vendée, on the Atlantic coast of France?
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It is a causeway that leads from the mainland to the island of Noirmoutier. The road floods twice a day at high tide and disappears underwater.
10. In 1903, Charles Heudebert, a Parisian baker, found a way to use leftover bread. His invention is now found on a shelf in every supermarket in the country. What is it?
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The biscotte, a thin slice of bread that has been baked twice, giving it a very dry, crisp texture. It can be kept for a long time without going mouldy.
11. What condition affects a person who has “la cécité”?
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He or she is blind.
12. Which city just outside Paris is closest to Disneyland Paris?
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Marne-la-Vallée
13. In which month is the famous race, Les 24 Heures du Mans, held?
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June
14. What’s the name of the policeman who pursues Jean Valjean in Les Misérables?
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Javert
15. Which famous Parisian landmark reopened for business on December 8, 2024?
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Notre-Dame de Paris. It opened its doors again after five years of restoration work following the fire on April 15, 2019.
16. Which disgraced war hero and politician was kidnapped post-mortem in the 1970s?
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Marshal Pétain. He died in 1951 and was buried on the Île d’Yeu. In 1973, the coffin was disinterred by his extremist followers, who wanted the marshal buried at Verdun. They were unsuccessful, and the coffin was returned to its original resting place.
17. In the French language, an “epicene” is a word with a special property. What is it?
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It is a word that can be both masculine and feminine, for example: un/une adulte, un/une adversaire, un/une après-midi, un/une artiste, un/une athlète and un/une bénévole.
18. In the summer of 2024, Paris hosted the Olympic Games and used some of the most beautiful locations in the capital to stage events. The state of which iconic Parisian feature was the source of much last-minute anxiety, causing two events to be postponed?
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The River Seine, which was the site of the triathlon and marathon swimming events. Swimming in the river had long been banned, but a clean-up prepared it for the Games. However, heavy rains caused a spike in pollution levels, leading to a 24-hour postponement of two triathlon events.
19. In the French Highway Code (Code de la Route), what does a yellow diamond-shaped sign surrounded by a white border tell you to do or not do?
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It indicates that your road has priority at all intersections until you see the end-of-priority sign (the same sign crossed out in black).
20. What have I done if someone says about me, “il a filé à l’anglaise”?
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I have left without saying goodbye. Curiously, in English this used to be known as “taking French leave”, but now we would say something like “slip out” or “leave discreetly”. It is possible that the origin of the phrase has nothing to do with English people being rude.
