Interactive quiz: 20 questions on France
What are charentaises? What did a group of French cardinals do in Avignon in 1378? How many answers can you get right?
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1. What is the Cirque de Gavarnie?
A. An itinerant circus troupe from the Moselle Valley
B. A natural amphitheatre in the Pyrenees
C. A stone labyrinth in the floor of Chartres Cathedral
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B.
2. During the Roman Empire, Argentoratum was the name of which French city?
A. Arcachon
B. Argenteuil
C. Strasbourg
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C. It was a military outpost that grew into a strategically important hub.
3. What are charentaises?
A. Slippers from the Charente region
B. Four-wheeled vehicles pulled by animals, often used to transport goods
C. Cellars used to store coal
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A. Charentaises are traditional slippers from the Charente region, designed to be worn indoors.
4. Which one of these famous people is not buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris?
A. Max Ernst
B. Karl Marx
C. Sarah Bernhardt
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B. Karl Marx is buried in Highgate Cemetery, London.
5. What does filer à l'anglaise mean?
A. To spin silk in the English fashion
B. To mend a fishing line with English thread
C. To leave a group of people without saying goodbye
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C.
6. What function did the Camp de Gurs (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), the Camp de Rivesaltes (Pyrénées-Orientales) and the Camp d'Argelès-sur-Mer (also in Pyrénées-Orientales) serve?
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They were internment camps where the French government placed Spanish refugees at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
7. She was a model, dancer and actress who married into the aristocracy but died in poverty in Calais on January 15, 1815, aged 49. Most famously, she was the lover of a military hero of Britain's wars with France. Who was she?
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Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson.
8. Who were the malgré-nous (literally "despite ourselves")?
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Men from Alsace-Lorraine conscripted into the German army during the Second World War. The name indicates that, for the most part, they were forced to enlist against their will.
9. What did a group of French cardinals do in Avignon in 1378?
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They elected their own candidate for pope, triggering the Western Schism, a 40-year period during which the Christian world was split between two rival pontiffs.
10. Which French minister is also called le Garde des Sceaux?
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The Minister of Justice, who is also the Keeper of the Seals (Garde des Sceaux).
11. Many villages, towns and cities in south-west France have an indoor fronton mur à gauche. What is it?
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It is a court used for playing Basque pelota, where the main playing wall is on the left-hand side.
12. The title of which 2025 American comedy film is translated into French as Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver le monde?
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The Naked Gun.
13. La Samaritaine is a famous department store in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, near the Pont Neuf. But where does its name come from?
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It comes from the giant hydraulic water pump that once stood on the nearby Pont Neuf, decorated with statues of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. The pump – and later the department store – took its name from this.
14. How many medals did the French team win at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026?
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23 medals: eight gold, nine silver and six bronze. France finished sixth in the medals table.
15. What is a Carambar?
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A long, chewy sweet (sometimes chocolate- or fruit-flavoured). The wrapper contains a silly joke.
16. The first article of the French Constitution says: “La France est une République indivisible, ………………. démocratique et sociale.” What is the missing word?
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Laïque.
17. For which iconic Parisian monument was the Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei responsible?
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The Louvre Pyramid.
18. French chemist and pharmacist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès is known for inventing which well-known cooking ingredient?
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Margarine, invented in 1869.
19. Where would you hear people referring to le noir, l'alezan, le bai and le bai-brun?
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In a stable or at a racetrack. They are names for horse coat colours.
20. Which French newspaper is supposedly named after a character from plays by Beaumarchais?
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Le Figaro, founded in 1826. It is said to be named after the title character in Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro and La Mère coupable.
