Test your knowledge: fun French facts

1. Poetic pioneer

Written sometime between 1040 and 1115, La Chanson de Roland is a classic epic poem that glorifies the achievements of King Charlemagne by reimagining the Battle of Roncevaux Pass (in the Pyrenees) as a struggle against Muslim forces.

Although the historical battle of 778 was actually fought against Basque attackers, the poem transforms the event into a heroic Christian-Muslim conflict.

Recounting, with considerable embellishment, the story of Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, it is widely acknowledged as the earliest surviving masterpiece of French literature.

The only surviving complete manuscript in Old French, dating from the mid-12th century, is held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Q: The poem is used as a key plot element in which novel by Graham Greene featuring a scholar of medieval literature?

2. Words of wisdom

17th-Century nobleman François de La Rochefoucauld is best known for his maxims, in which his ethos of fair-mindedness shines through. He would influence and impress writers and philosophers for centuries, including Friedrich Nietzsche.

Among the best known of his 504 published maxims are: “Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers”; “We are all strong enough to bear the misfortunes of others”; “The only thing that should surprise us is that we can still be surprised”; and “We are never so fortunate nor so unfortunate as we think we are.”

Q: Where was his family château?

3. Power Serge

Born Lucien Ginsburg on April 2, 1928, in Paris to a Ukrainian family of Jewish descent, Serge Gainsbourg is seen as one of the most influential French singers and songwriters of all time, even achieving cult-like status in the Anglophone music-loving world – a rare feat for a French performer. In his career he adopted many musical styles, from jazz to yéyé, funk to African rhythms, and dance-pop to reggae, but chanson was his first love – his earliest influence was musician and polymath Boris Vian.

Q: Gainsbourg was a known loose cannon on television and often pulled stunts or engaged in outrageous behaviour. What did he do on TV in 1984 in protest at high tax rates?