Blog Post 7 - Random Facts on France!

So a little more informal and less serious blog post this time! Just some interesting info on the romantic capital of the world, you guessed it, France! Why did I choose it? Because I don't know much about France except for some probably inaccurate assumptions from the media I have been exposed to.

 

 After Russia and Ukraine, France is the biggest European country with 20% of its territory lying outside Europe. The 45th parallel north marks the halfway point of the Equator and North Pole and is said to draw the line between Northern and Southern France. In Northern France, 'OÏL' dialects and butter cuisine prevails. In Southern France, 'OCCITAN' dialects and olive oil cuisines prevail.

 Rivers are extremely important in French history as they were the main transportation routes before railways were created. Rivers in France exceed over 300km in length.

As you know, French people cheek kiss to great each other, even between men. However you may not know that number of kisses varies according to the region of France you are in (e.g 1 around Brittany or 4 in Paris).

French are the second biggest consumers of alcohol per capita in the Western world. They are also the World's biggest consumers of psychotropic drugs (one quarter of the population admitting taking anti-depressants or tranquillizers over the past year).

Although French language directly descended from Latin, French people have some of the most diverse genetic and blood make up being related to Celts, Basques, Romans, Franks and Normands explaining the range of diversity in French physical traits.

Until 1964, French women were unable to open a bank account or apply for a passport without the permission of their husband.

Despite many stereotypes of French people, most can speak at least on foreign language. French language was the offical language of England for many centuries, and is still the official language of 30 countries across the world. The Frnech spokes in different places are related but distant dialects, and hence people speaking French in Quebec will have trouble understanding people speaking French in Paris.

Cheques are commonly used as one of the main forms of payment which is uncommon in many counties across the world. 

And of course the Eiffel Tower;  Gustave Eiffel engraved the names of 72 prominent French engineers, scientists ad mathematicians of all time.

During the years 1925 - 1934 the Citroen automobile company used the tower as a billboard! it was the biggest advertising billboard of all time.