
I’ve compiled a French Christmas quiz every year since 2011. To see the others, click here.
A very happy Festive Season to all my readers. Thank you for reading the blog this year and for your stimulating comments and emails. Welcome to the 2018 – and 8th – Edition of the Life on La Lune French Christmas Quiz. This is my traditional Christmas gift to my loyal readers. Something for you to exercise your brain on, once you’ve exercised your stomach.The quiz, as always, consists of 20 questions on aspects of French history, culture, language, cuisine, geography and politics with multiple choice answers. Beware, there are a few questions where more than one answer might be correct.
A few rules:
- Try to answer without using the internet if you can – it doesn’t always give the right answer, anyway. You are, however, authorised to search this blog and you’ll find the answers to a number of the questions buried here somewhere.
- Please don’t post up your answers in the comments section below. It spoils it for everyone else.
- Don’t take it too seriously; it’s all in fun.
- There are no prizes. Virtue is its own reward.
- I will provide the correct answers on Sunday 30th December, so you have a week to puzzle over it.
Here we go:
1 Who are the Gilets Jaunes?
a) A French pop group
b) Protesters against the cost of living in France
c) Traffic wardens
2 Which of these Michelin-starred chefs died this year?
a) Joël Robuchon
b) Paul Bocuse
c) Michel Guérard
3 What is it illegal to do in a French station while the train is standing at the platform?
a) Kissing
b) Running on the platform
c) Talking to the station master
4 What proportion of music played on private French radio stations must be of French origin?
a) 20%
b) 40%
c) 50%
5 How many tonnes of snails are eaten in France each year?
a) 6,000
b) 10,000
c) 16,000
6 To which sport is the Chapelle de Notre-Dame near Grenade-sur-l’Adour in the Landes Département devoted?
a) Football
b) Cycling
c) Rugby
7 What are marcassins?
a) Slippers
b) Game birds
c) Young wild boar
8 Which flowers do French people traditionally use to decorate family graves at Toussaint (All Saints’ Day)?
a) Lilies
b) Chrysanthemums
c) Marigolds
9 What is la canicule?
a) A type of beer brewed on Corsica
b) A heatwave
c) A kind of edible seaweed
10 What do revellers jump over during la Fête de la Saint-Jean in June?
a) A bonfire
b) A pig
c) A tricolore flag
11 What should you keep under the bed to ward off lightning strikes on your house?
a) A lock of your mother-in-law’s hair
b) Ashes from the solstice bonfire
c) A horseshoe
12 On which of the following trees does mistletoe seldom grow in France?
a) Black poplar
b) Cherry
c) Oak
13 When were French women given the right to vote?
a) 1918
b) 1944
c) 1945
14 If someone offers you chaussons do you?
a) Wear them
b) Eat them
c) Warm the bed with them
15 What is the name of President Macron’s political party?
a) Les Républicains
b) La République en Marche
c) Rassemblement National
16 A picture question. Which city is this?

a) Lyon
b) Toulouse
c) Bordeaux
17 If someone is described as “avoir la frite”, what state are they in?
a) In top physical and mental form
b) Mortally afraid
c) In a bad mood
18 What is un préservatif?
a) An ingredient for keeping food fresh
b) A condom
c) A life jacket
19 In which category has France won the most Nobel Prizes?
a) Economic Sciences
b) Physics
c) Literature
20 Another picture question. With which saint is this symbol associated?

a) Saint-Martin
b) Saint-Jean
c) Saint-Jacques
Amusez-vous bien!
Copyright © Life on La Lune 2018. All rights reserved
Number 14 has two possible answers. 😉
LikeLike
It’s not the only one – as I indicate in the introduction. 🙂 It’s for people to work out which ones those are. Always a good idea to read the rules first! 😉
LikeLike
I think I got 11. The others would be guesses. Wishing you a joyeux noël!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for doing it. You’ll find out the answers next week! In the meantime, bonnes fêtes!
LikeLike
Great quiz! Feeling quietly confident…
Wishing you a lovely Christmas and a productive and healthy New Year xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you like it. Answers next Sunday. Meantime, bonnes fêtes!
LikeLike