What's interesting about France? (Part 4)

History:

• The name 'France' comes from the Franks, a Germanic tribe that settled in the Western Roman Empire from the 2nd century, then took over most of Gaul after the collapse of the empire. Interesting, isn't it?

• The French state is one of the oldest in Europe; it was founded in 843, splitting from the Carolingian Empire based in Aachen (Belgo-German border).

• The region of Paris was settled since around 4200 BCE. The city itself was founded by the Parisii, a Celtic tribe, around 250 BCE. The Roman renamed it Luteca from 52 BCE, and it only became known as "Paris" after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• the famous "Foie gras" may be part and parcel of French cuisine, but its origins go back to 4,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt, from where it spread to Greece (500 B.C.E.), then the recipe was imported by the Romans and brought to Gaul.

• Gothic art has its origins in the middle of the 12th century in the North of France. The world's first Gothic building is said to be the Abbey of St. Denis, just north of Paris, which is the burial place of many Frankish kings since Clovis, as well as most Kings of France. Gothic architecture then spread to Picardy, notably with the cathedrals of Noyon, Laon and Senlis, followed by the Île-de-France. The term "Gothic" was only used from the 16th century Renaissance as a pejorative term to describe complicated and "barbaric" art, as opposed to the simplicity of the Greco-Roman revival. Nowadays more people may value more highly Gothic than Renaissance architecture.

• Nicotine was named after Jean Nicot (1530-1600), a renowned French diplomat and scholar who introduced the tobacco plant to France in 1559 (from Portugal).

• "La Marseillaise", France's national anthem, was composed in Strasbourg in 1792, not in Marseilles as its name might induce to think.

• The first modern fire-resistant safe deposit box was invented by Alexandre Fichet (1799-1862) around 1840.

• The world's first true department store was Le Bon Marché in Paris, founded by Aristide Boucicaut in 1838.

• The fascinating tradition of decorating Chritmas trees started in Eastern France in the 16th century (then part of Germany). Trees were then ornated with flowers and fruits (notably apples). A drought in 1858 destroyed the apple harvest, prompting a glass blower from Goetzenbruck, a Lorraine village on the Moselle, to create apple-shaped glass baubles. This lovely practice spread quickly around Europe, and by the late 1800's the local glass factory at Goetzenbruck was manufacturing tens of thousands of baubles.

• At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km² of land, or 8.6% of the world's land area. This is over 22 times the size of modern Metropolitan France.

• France has hosted five times the Summer Olympic Games (2nd most after the USA), three times the Winter Olympic Games (2nd most after the USA), and twice the FIFA World Cup (most with Italy and Germany).

• France has won the 4th most Summer Olympic medals (including gold) in history after the USA, USSR and UK.

• The capital of Malta, Valletta, was built by and named after the French nobleman Jean Parisot de la Valette (1494-1568), Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller and ruler of the island.

• On 10 June 2007, a sabre having belonged to Napoleon I was sold at an auction for € 4.8 million - the most expensive weapon ever sold.

Government and politics :

• The French 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen' of 1789 is the world's first universal declaration of human rights, applying not only to French citizens or "free men" (as opposed to slaves), but to all people in the world.

• France has changed its form of government 9 times since 1789, including 5 republics, 2 empires and 2 constitutional monarchies.

• France has only had 3 presidents in the last 32 years (since 1974) : Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac.

• France ruled over the second largest colonial empire in the world (after Britain) from the late 19th-century to the 1960's, controlling 8.6% of the world's land area.

Culture and heritage:

• The early Neolithic Cairn of Barnenez in Brittany, dating from circa 4800 BCE, is one of the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe and is considered the oldest extant buildings in the world, predating the oldest Egyptian pyramid by over 2000 years.

• There are some 40,000 châteaux (castles, manors, palaces...) in France.

• The Louvre is the world's largest castle or palace (it is both). It covers an area of 210,000 m², of which the Louvre Museum occupies 60,600 m². For comparison, the Palace of Versailles is 67,000 m², Buckingham Palace 77,000 m² and the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican 162,000 m².

• France is the country that has won the most Nobel prizes for literature (13 as of 2013, with the last prize going back to 2008).

• There are over 300 kinds of cheese made in France.

• There are 28 categories of sites in France listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including 3 Roman sites (Arles, Orange and Le Gard), 4 cathedrals (Amiens, Bourges, Chartres, Reims), 4 abbeys (Fontenay, Reims, Saint-Savin sur Gartempe and Vezelay), 8 historic city/town centres (Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Avignon, Le Havre, Mont-Saint-Michel, Provins and Carcassone) as well as numerous belfries, castles and palaces.

• 81 million tourists have visited France in 2012, more than in any other country in the world, and the figures keep rising year after year. France is one of the few countries (along with Spain, Austria and Greece) where the number of annual tourists exceeds its population.

• The spectacle "Ionesco" has been playing at the Théâtre de La Huchette since 1957, with over 15,000 performances - a world record.

• There are about 2 new cooking books published every day in France.

• Pop singer Claude François (1939-1978) is still as popular as ever in France 30 years after his accidental death. Two of his songs have remained constantly in the top 10 of music played in night club for the last 20 years. A real cult has developed around him. In many ways, Claude François can be regarded as the French equivalent of Elvis Presley.

• About one fourth of French people nowadays choose to be cremated when they die, instead of the traditional Catholic burial.