A very Happy Christmas to all my readers

I’ve compiled a French Christmas quiz every year since 2011. To see the others, click here.

Here’s something to stretch your brain cells once you’ve stretched your waistbands: the annual Life on La Lune Christmas Quiz. Twenty questions about French history, literature, gastronomy, language, etc. with multiple choice answers.

You can, of course, find the answers on the internet or on this blog, but it’s more fun if you have a go first without recourse to them. Please don’t post your answers in the comments below but keep them to yourself. I will post up the answers on Tuesday 30^th December. There are no prizes, just the warm glow that comes with a bit of intellectual effort.

Here’s a little clue, since I’m feeling generous. In some cases, more than one of the multiple choice answers is correct.

I hope you have as much fun doing the quiz as I had compiling it.

1. Which French queen is reputed to have started a new fashion by stuffing a bunch of flowers in her cleavage on being surprised in a state of undress with her lover?

a) Catherine de’ Medici

b) Marguerite de Valois

c) Marie Antoinette

2. What could you buy in ancient Egypt for 7 kg of garlic?

a) A timeshare in a tomb

b) A slave

c) A pot of life-enhancing unguent

3. Which famous Paris hotel did author Ernest Hemingway “liberate” from the Germans in 1944?

a) The Crillon

b) The George V

c) The Ritz

4. Which illness was Saint Roch reputed to be able to cure?

a) Smallpox

b) The plague

c) The sweating sickness

5. Photo question. What are these?

a) Cow shoes

b) Heels of a boot

c) Horseshoes

6. Which town was the birthplace of Egyptian hieroglyphics decipherer Jean-François Champollion?

a) Souillac

b) Aurillac

c) Figeac

7. How many regions does mainland France (including Corsica) currently have?

a) 18

b) 20

c) 22

For an extra point each, name three of them.

8. And how many will it have under plans to rationalise the regions?

a) 10

b) 13

c) 16

9. What is the fine in France for pedestrians who cross the road without using a crossing that is within 50 metres?

a) 4 euros

b) 25 euros

c) 100 euros

10. Which European country has an enclave of around 13 square kilometres in southern France, entirely surrounded by French territory?

a) Italy

b) Spain

c) Switzerland

And, for an extra point, what is the name of the enclave?

11. Which film was shot in the town of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in 2013?

a) My Old Lady

b) The Hundred Foot Journey

c) Charlotte Gray

12. What does the designation “village étoilé” mean?

a) It works to reduce light pollution

b) It is an important tourist site

c) It has a restaurant with at least one Michelin star

13. Which building, opened or re-opened in Paris in 2014, has been variously described as resembling sailing boats, icebergs and clouds?

a) The Picasso Museum

b) Le Carreau du Temple marketplace

c) The Louis Vuitton Foundation

14. What is the cheese consumption per head in France (2010 figures) by weight?

a) 14.2 kg

b) 15.7 kg

c) 16.5 kg

15. What is “pain perdu”?

a) A dish made of bread soaked in beaten egg and milk and fried

b) Stale bread used for making croutons

c) A figurative term meaning not worth the effort

16. If someone says, “Vous avez du pain sur la planche,” what do they mean?

a) You are very fortunate

b) You’ve only got bread to eat

c) You’ve got your work cut out

17. What is “un pastis”?

a) An alcoholic drink

b) An apple pastry

c) An artist’s sketch

18. What is “un toubib”?

a) A hairpiece

b) A slang word for a doctor

c) A migratory bird

19. Which literary prize did French author Patrick Modiano win in 2014?

a) The Nobel Prize for Literature

b) The Prix Goncourt

c) The Grand Prix de l’Académie Française

20. When moving house in France, which item of furniture should you carry into the new house first?

a) A bed

b) A chair

c) A table

Je vous souhaite Joyeux Noël et bonne fin d’année. 

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