The year 2025 has been a bit of a rollercoaster in France - from political drama to high profile heists, via a series of cultural landmarks. See how much of it you remember with our Quiz of the Year.
We have written about all these news events in The Local France this year, so regular readers should do well!
Answers are at the bottom of the page.
Politics
1 How many different prime ministers has France had this year?
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
2 Sébastien Lecornu beat the UK's Liz 'lettuce' Truss in the contest for the shortest prime ministerial term when he resigned in October. How many days elapsed between him first being appointed as prime minister and him handing in his resignation?
- 7 days
- 27 days
- 44 days
- 100 days
3 But five days after Lecornu's resignation was accepted, there was a surprise twist - what happened?
- Lecornu announced that his resignation was just a practical joke, to raise the spirits of the country
- Emmanuel Macron announced his new prime minister - Sébastien Lecornu
- Emmanuel Macron exiled Lecornu from France
- Lecornu was replaced by his twin brother Sylvain
4 Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is, at the time of writing, banned from standing in the 2027 presidential election. Why?
- She has reached the limit on the number of times a candidate can stand for election
- She says she's bored of politics
- A court-imposed punishment due to a conviction for embezzlement.
- A court-imposed ban after a conviction for Holocaust-denial
5 It was abolished by Jacques Chirac in 1997, but Emmanuel Macron has announced that it will be restored from summer 2026. What is it?
- A wealth tax
- The death penalty
- The right to strike
- National service
People
1 Gabriel Zucman went from relative obscurity to household name this year - selling out speaking venues around France and having a proposed law named after him. Who is he?
- An economist who proposes a flat rate 2 per cent tax on the super rich
- An economist who proposes abolishing top rate taxes for high earners
- An economist who proposes a swingeing package of public spending cuts
- An economist famous for hating numbers
2 Far-right politician Jordan Bardella published his second book this year, prompting a member of his own party to remark 'congratulations, Jordan has now written more books than he has read'. But what is his new book called?
- What the French Need
- What the French Want
- What I'm Searching For
- My Struggle
3 He died in 1951 while under house arrest on the Île d'Yeu, but comments about his record in World War II sparked a criminal investigation in November 2025. Who is he?
- Charles De Gaulle, leader of the WWII French resistance
- Winston Churchill, Britain's WWII leader
- Philippe Pétain, head of France's WWII Vichy regime
- Pierre Laval, prime minister of France's WWII regime
- 21 hours
- 21 days
- 44 days
- 6 months
5 The metal horse that galloped up the River Seine during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony undertook a nationwide tour of France in 2025, visiting dozens of towns and cities. What is the horse's name?
- Sequana
- Olympia
- Zeus
- Phryge
Places
1 The Louvre made global headlines in 2025 when thieves smashed their way in and stole France's crown jewels, which have an estimated value of €88 million. The museum's embarrassment at the apparent ease with which the thieves had broken in was later compounded when it was revealed their their computer security password was what?
- louvre
- Louvre1
- MonaLisaLouvre
- EMacron
2 Their plan to 'bring France to a halt' on September 10th led to them being compared to the Gilets Jaunes. In the event, the disruption was less dramatic than feared. What was the group's name?
- Floccons Tout
- Bloquons Tout
- Bloque-nous
- Tout sweet
3 This summer saw swimming in the Seine opened up to the general public at three hugely popular bathing spots. The swimming success was the result of a massive clean-up operation, but when was swimming banned to the general public?
- 1913
- 1923
- 1933
- 1973
4 The summer of 2025 saw severe wildfires in several places in southern France. The Aude département saw the largest recorded wildfire since 1949 - how many hectares were burned?
- 700 acres
- 7,000 acres
- 17,000 acres
- 170,000 acres
5 The town of Châteauneuf-les-Martigues in southern France hit the headlines after residents complained that their lives were being a misery by thousands of what?
- Feral goats
- Feral chickens
- Feral peacocks
- Parisians
French language
1 Brigitte Macron caused controversy this year when she was caught using a foul-mouthed (and tricky to translate) insult about a group of feminist protesters. What did she call the group?
- Stupide connes
- Sale connes
- Sale feministes
- Dumbasses
2 A crucial part of life in France is calculating how to maximise time off work by the careful combination of annual leave with public holidays. What is this practice known as?
- Faire les vacances
- Faire la papillon
- Ferme la porte
- Faire le pont
3 Rassemblement National's Jordan Bardella became the latest French politician to be enfariné this year - what does that mean?
- To receive an award from wheat-growers
- To have flour thrown at you
- To play the lead role at harvest festival
- To bake a cake for parliamentary colleagues
4 Paris this year marked 10 years since the November 13th terror attacks at the Bataclan, Stade de France and various city cafés. The city's Latin motto was widely shared in the aftermath of the attacks and during the commemorations - what is it?
- Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
- Magnus est Veritas
- E Pluribus Unum
- Ad astra
5 In political terms, what is the 'Arc républicain'?
- The ceremonies held at the Arc de Triomphe
- All political parties from left to right, but excluding the far-right
- The two-round voting system
- The debating chamber of the French parliament
6 France's Interior minister this year filed a legal complaint about a board game, objecting to the name of one of the characters. What was the controversial character called?
- Hércule Poirot
- Facho flic
- Flic débile
- Flic raciste
7 French supermarket Intermarché scored a viral hit this year with their Christmas advert - an animation featuring a vegetarian wolf. What classic song formed the sound track?
- Le mal-aimé
- La marseillaises
- Je ne regrette rien
- Le loup garrou
8 If you're in south-west France you might see a lot of Euskara - what is it?
- The local rugby team
- The local Basque language
- The local football team
- The local food speciality
9 If you use the French state rail service's app SNCF Connect it will give you an end-of-year roundup of your train travel, modelled on Spotify Wrapped. What is the train version called?
- Trainnées
- FRWrapped
- Choo Choo
- Rétrainspective
10 What somewhat historically inaccurate term is widely used in French to describe the English-speaking peoples of the world?
- Les Visigoths
- Les Vikings
- Les Anglo-Saxons
- Les Gauls
French culture
1 Which ancient French site was added to the UNESCO world heritage list this year?
- The stone circles at Carnac
- The Lascaux caves
- The Nimes ampitheatre
- The Gorges du Verdon
2 Which site reopened to the public this year for the first time since 2019?
- The Paris Catacombes
- The towers of Notre-Dame cathedral
- The Louvre
- The Pompidou Centre
3 Which Hollywood A-lister has moved his family to France, saying that it will give his 8-year-old twins a better quality of life?
- Brad Pitt
- Leo Di Caprio
- Mel Gibson
- George Clooney
4 Which British-born singer and actress was honoured this year with a bridge named after her in Paris?
- Jane Birkin
- Charlotte Rampling
- Jodie Foster
- Kristin Scott Thomas
5 A new theme park is opening in Germany featuring which French icon?
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- Tintin
- Astérix
- Maigret
And that's the end of the quiz - are you ready for the answers? Scroll down
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Answers
Politics
1 - 2. That's fewer than you might think given all the political turmoil. Michel Barnier fell in December 2024, replaced by François Bayrou. Bayou was toppled in a confidence vote in September, replaced by Sebastien Lecornu, who resigned in October but was then reappointed.
2 - 27 days, beating Liz Truss's 44-day premiership
3 - Emmanuel Macron announced his new prime minister - Sébastien Lecornu. This paved the way for what is, technically, Lecornu's second term.
4 - A court-imposed punishment due to a conviction for embezzlement. Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement in March in relation to fake jobs at the European Parliament. As part of her sentence, the court imposed a five-year ban on standing for political office. She has never been convicted of Holocaust denial, but her father Jean-Marie Le Pen was.
5 - National Service is coming back to France, although - crucially - it will be voluntary.
People
1 An economist who proposes a flat rate 2 per cent tax on the super rich. The 'Zucman tax' was defeated in the French parliament but other countries are reportedly considering the idea
2 - What the French Want (Ce que veulent les Français). His first book was titled What I'm Searching For (Ce que je cherche).
3 - Philippe Pétain, head of France's WWII Vichy regime. Comments about his wartime record could be interpreted as Holocaust denial, which is a criminal offence in France.
4 - 21 days. He has published a book, Journal d'un prisonnier, about his brief stint in La Santé prison
5 - Zeus. Sequana is the pagan goddess of the Seine, while les phryges were the names of the Paris Olympic mascots
Places
1 louvre. Yes - not even a capital letter or a number. In fairness, the detail comes from a leaked security assessment dating from 2014, so they might have changed it before the robbery.
2 - Bloquons Tout (block everything).
3 - 1923. Swimming in the Seine was banned to the general public in 1923 on health grounds, because the river was so polluted.
4 - 17,000 acres. An area two thirds the size of Paris
5 - Feral goats.
French language
1 - Sale connes. The insult broadly translates as 'stupid bitches', although some have argued that it is stronger than that.
2 - Faire le pont.
3 - To have flour thrown at you. The verb is created from farine (flour) and has a cousin in 'entarter', to have a custard pie thrown at you
4 - Fluctuat Nec Mergitur. It broadly translates as 'tossed by the storm but not sunk'. The other three are, respectively, the motto of a magical society, the United States of America and NASA.
5 - All political parties from left to right, but excluding the far-right. There is much debate over whether this concept will endure into 2026 and 2027.
6 - Flic raciste. Translating as 'racist cop' the Interior Minister judged it an insult to French police. The game was called Fachorama.
7 - Le mal-aimé (the unloved). An old-school classic from Claude François.
8 - The local Basque language. Spain's basque region is better known, but part of the Pays Basque is in France and a significant portion of the residents are bilingual.
9 - Rétrainspective. A 'retrospective' but for trains, geddit?
10 - Les Anglo-Saxons. It's not really clear why a Germanic tribe living in England around 1,000 years ago has come to symbolise the entire English-speaking world to the French. The Gauls were a pre-Roman tribe in northern France, who are sometimes used to symbolise the French people in a romantic way, especially through the character of Astérix.
French culture
1 - The stone circles at Carnac, in Brittany.
2 - The towers of Notre-Dame cathedral. The cathedral reopened to the public in December 2024 after a five-year restoration project to repair the damage of the 2019 fire. The towers reopened in September of 2025.
3 - George Clooney. In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Clooney said that his family now lives in France, adding that he believed the quality of life would be better for his children than in the US.
4 - Jane Birkin. British born but spending much of her life in France, the singer and actress was much loved by her French fans. Rampling, Foster and Scott Thomas have all had significant success in French-language films.
5 - Astérix. The Parc Astérix, on the outskirts of Paris, is France's second most-visited theme park (after Disneyland) and is now expanding into Germany
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