France has always captivated the interest of travelers. With iconic spots and marvels such as Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, and the beautiful coastline, France is full of surprises. With history dating back to thousands of years, France is culturally rich with lots of heritage site, but at the same time its also a developed nation with vibrant cities and metropolis. Writing a blog that would tell you everything about France, even the tiny details, would be as broad as internet, so we have done our bit.
On this blog you would find some of the most fun, bizarre, and interesting facts about France. Some of them are less discussed that even French wont believe. So enjoy them and also keep a tab on the country to visit it in your upcoming holidays.
1 – France is the most visited country in the world. Approximately 89 million people drop by every year.
2- France is the largest country in the European Union by the land mass. IT is roughly four times bigger than the Great Britain.
3 – French is the official language of 29 countries.
4 – Owing to a law made in 1800, it was prohibited for French women to wear trousers in France. The law has been amended couple of times and has been abolished completely in 2013.
5 – Tin cans, balloons and hair dryers were invented by French people.
6 – For a total of 300 years, the official language of England was French. English vocabulary got many words from the French like beef and pork.
7 – The most expensive bottle of wine was made in France. It was 73 years old French Burgundy and was priced at 558,000 Dollars which half a million.
8 – French word Salut, means both hello and goodbye.
9 – Louis-Antoine, the French King holds the shortest duration of reign in the history. His monarchy lasted for only twenty minutes.
10 – Eiffel tower was constructed for Universal Exhibition in Paris. IT was supposed to exist for only 20 years. But later it got used by army as an antenna, and later everyone accepted it as a symbol of Paris.
11 – It was in World War 2 when the French army invented camouflage with help of dedicated artists.
12 – French army is also known to still use the carrier pigeons. Yes they have used it in history and they still maintain them in case of some electronic blackout.
13 – France is home to maximum number of roundabouts in the world. The estimated number is 30,000 and we don’t wonder why the traffic there is so smooth.
14 – It is illegal to throw away food in France. Yes they are quite modern when it comes to food wastage, and they believe in giving it away in charity.
15 – Jeanne Calment dies when she was 122 years old making her the French Woman who was the oldest person to have lived in history.
16 – Every day in France, two new cook books are published. That is a lot of publishing and thanks to the ever popular French Cuisines that makes it possible.
17 – In France you can also marry a dead person. But you got to prove that the dead person intended on marrying you, and also you got to have a permission from French President.
18 – Louvre Museum of France is the biggest art museum in the world. It is believed to have 138 thousand of art pieces. So many that it doesn’t even displays all of them.
19 – Tour De France is the world’s most popular cycling race, and it is stretched over 3200 kilometers, it lasts for 23 days, and is seen by millions of spectators. This race is a century old and started back in 1903.
20 – 25000 tonnes of snails are eaten every year by French people.
21 – France is home to 30, 3 star Michelin restaurant. No wonder why the country is so famous for its gastronomic scene and culinary delights.
22 – French government has award named as Médaille de la Famille Française, which is given to parents fpr raising their kids well.
23 – The oldest French city is Marseille, which was founded in 600 BC as a Greek colony.
24 – Croissant, one of the most popular French dishes was actually invented in Austria.
25 – France has 13 number of territories governed and controlled by France outside of Europe.
26 – France and Paris are not French words. Paris got its name from the Celtic Gauls, while France was inspired by Frank, Germanic people who inhibited France.
27 – French government has regulated a law which requires 35 percent of music to be French on every private radio channel. Talk about going local, here the French people go.
28 – France has received Nobel Prize in Literature 14 times, the highest by any country.
29 – The largest French speaking city in the world is Kinshasa which is the capital city of Democratic Republic of Congo. It is estimated to have 12 million French speaking people.
30 – France is also home to the busiest train station in Europe, named as Gare du Nord. It caters to 200 million passengers annually.
31 – France is also the first country which introduced license plates for vehicles.
32 – French toast was not invented in France. It was made by a New York innkeeper, whose name was Joseph French. It derives the name from the inventor.
33 – The longest book in the world is French, it lasts for 3000 pages, and is named as In Search of Lost Time.
34 – The camera phone was first invented in France back in 1997.
French Facts!
