30 facts about France that might just surprise you.

1. France is the largest country in the EU and is sometimes called the hexagon

2. France is the world’s most popular tourist destination

3. French was the official language of England for about 300 years

4. Louis XIX was the king of France for just 20 minutes, the shortest ever reign

5. ‘Liberté, égalitié, fraternité’ or ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ is the national motto

6. The French army was the first to use camouflage in 1915 (World War I)

7. In France, you can marry a dead person!

8. The French invented tin cans, the hairdryer, and the hot air balloon

9. France was the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away food

10. The first public screening of a movie was by the French Lumière in 1895

11. The oldest person who ever lived was a French woman named Jeanne Louise Calment

12. France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013

13. France has more Nobel Prize winners in Literature than any other country

14. Europe’s highest mountain is Mont Blanc in the French Alps

15. The world’s first artificial heart transplant and face transplant both took place in France

16. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world

17. French gastronomy was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status in 2010

18. France produced the most expensive bottle of wine in the world

19. You might get a fish stuck on your back on April Fool’s Day

20. The French eat around 30,000 tons of snails a year

21. Live snails must have a ticket to ride high-speed trains

22. The croissant was actually invented in Austria in the 13th century

23. Turning a baguette upside down is seen as unlucky in France

24. France produces around 1.7 million tons of cheese a year in around 1,600 varieties

25. French law forbids couples from kissing on train platforms

26. Paris Gare du Nord is Europe’s busiest railway station

27. The French rail network is the second largest in Europe ninth biggest in the world

28. The world’s greatest cycle race, the Tour de France, is more than 100 years old

29. The tradition of wearing a white dress originated in France in 1499

30. At least 35% of all music played on private radio stations must be French

fin!