Sacrebleu! C'est le quiz de Noël
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Your support makes all the difference.By popular demand (one postcard and an e-mail), the quiz de Noël is back. You score un point for every correct answer. Fifteen correct answers or more: you are a true Francophile - award yourself the Légion d'honneur and a glass of champagne. Eight correct answers or more: pas mal - award yourself a camembert sandwich and an Orangina. Seven or less: quelle horreur! - as a penance, sing La Marseillaise 10 times and buy a Johnny Hallyday CD.
QUESTIONS
1. Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa may be the next President of France. His full name is too long for the ballot paper, so he is better known as Nicolas Sarkozy, or just "Sarko". In which country was his father born?
a) Algeria b) Hungary c) Poland
2. President Jacques Chirac is now by far the oldest frontline politician in the world. How old will he be at the next presidential election in 2007?
a) 38 b) 102 c) 74
3. Who was the British Prime Minister when Jacques Chirac became a minister for the first time?
a) Benjamin Disraeli b) Winston Churchill c) Harold Wilson
4. Which of these is one of the hundreds of hit records by France's national rock star, Johnny Hallyday (pictured right)?
a) "Douce France" b) "Aux Champs- Elysées" c) "Quelque chose de Tennessee"
5. The grandmother of the mayor of Paris was an Englishwoman called Mrs Speed. What is the mayor's name?
a) Johnny Hallyday b) Bertrand Delanoë c) François Hollande
6. Which Métro station is the odd one out?
a) Arsenal b) Temple c) Barbès- Rochechouart
7. The Prime Minister of France is a former coffee salesman from Poitiers. What is his name?
a) Nicolas Sarkozy b) Johnny Hallyday c) Jean-Pierre Raffarin
8. With which country does France have its longest land border?
a) Luxembourg b) Belgium c) Brazil
9. Of a) Pomerol, b) Pommard, and c) Pommery, which has bubbles?
10. Which sixtysomething Frenchman became a father again this year, thanks to Bernadette Chirac?
a) Jacques Chirac b) Johnny Hallyday c) Jacques Delors
11. Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille and possible Socialist presidential contender in 2007, is the daughter of which well-known Frenchman?
a) Jacques Delors b) Johnny Hallyday c) Christian Dior
12. Which of the following Parisian street names does not exist?
a) rue de la Lingerie b) square Rictus c) avenue de Napoléon
13. How many cinemas are there in Paris?
a) 75 c) 234 d) 365.
14. The Musée d'Orsay was, in a previous life: a) a church b) a government ministry c) a railway station
15. The north wing of the Louvre was previously: a) a church b) a government ministry c) a railway station
16. France's poet-politician Dominique de Villepin wrote a book on world affairs this year entitled Le requin et la mouette (The Shark and the Seagull). In it, which country is the shark?
a) Luxembourg b) Liechtenstein c) The United States
17. And the seagull?
a) Britain b) Belgium c) France
18. A French football club, not based in France, reached the final of the Champions League this year. Was it:
a) Arsenal b) AS Monaco c) Arsenal reserves
19. A great French leader crowned himself 200 years ago this year. Was it: a) Jacques Chirac b) Valéry Giscard d'Estaing c) Napoleon
20. French départements (counties) are numbered alphabetically. However, the département of Paris is out of sequence because it used to be called "Seine". What is its number?
a) 92 b) 75 c) 78
21. Who is the odd man out?
a) Hergé, father of Tintin b) Georges Simenon, father of Maigret c) Johnny Hallyday, father of three
22. What is the legal length of the working week in France?
a) 45 hours b) 35 hours c) 15 hours
23. And the usual retirement age?
a) 50 b) 60 c) 65
24. Until the Pendolino works properly, the top speed on Britain's railways is 125mph. What is the normal-service speed of French high-speed trains?
a) 150mph b) 175mph c) 187mph
25. The French government this year banned pupils from entering state schools with one of the following dangerous objects:
a) revolvers b) flick knives c) Islamic headscarves
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