French Quiz Answers

1.A – A presidential term lasts for five years and since 2008 the French government set the maximum number of terms at two consecutively.

2.A - There are two stories about this name. The first is that London citizens gave this name to Paris in 1820, because of the lights in the streets. The second explanation is that in the 18th century Parisians were asked to put candles on their windows to light up the city and protect Paris from crime.

3.B – La Marseillaise was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "War Song for the Rhine Army”.

4.A - This name was given to Toulouse in reference the pink colour of the city seen from the sky (with pink tiles) and the pink bricks used to build the buildings of the city.

5.B – Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica and died on St Helena.

6.A - Marianne is the personification of the Republic and she is the symbol of liberty, represented in Eugene Delacroix’s painting ‘La liberté guidant le peuple’ (Liberty Leading the People).

7.A. Bordeaux is located on the Atlantic Coast while Marseille is located on the Mediterranean Coast.

8.B - Depending on the region this greeting can be from one to four kisses.

9.B - Since 1968 school uniform has not been not mandatory, except in a very few private French schools.

10.A - He chose the sun as a symbol of his reign as he wanted to be known as the King who made the shadows and darkness disappear. He once wore a sun outfit which gave him the name ‘Le Roi-Soleil’.

11.B - This is an informal word which is not used much in current French. You may not know that it is not the real surname of Edith Piaf; she was given this name because people said that she looked like a bird.

12.B - Labour Day takes place on 1 May, but the Storming of the Bastille which is also the French National day is celebrated on 14 July.

13.A - The king escaped after the fall of the Monarchy and has been caught and killed in 1793. This was the end of the Monarchy and the beginning of the French Republic.