Fascinating Facts From France - Pt 2

Hello......Howdy today?

Well, today I'd be wrapping up on some of the fascinating and yet, somewhat unbelievable facts about France and some of its historical ties.

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1.) King John I: Crowned King at birth but died five days later.

King John I of France is known as the only person to remain a king throughout his entire life of just five days. In 1316, King John I was the youngest person to be recognized as king of France. He was crowned a king at birth, however five days later, he died. ^ref

2.) French speaking people in Africa are more than the entire France itself

The French apparently did a heck of a job in colonizing Africa, because as at today, many Central and West African countries have the French language as their official language. And there are more French speakers in Africa than the whole of France combined. ^ref

3.) Did you know French wasn’t the first official language of France?

Funny and strange as it is, the French government wasn’t the first government in the world to adopt French as its official language. It makes one wonder, what was the official language of France, before French was adopted as the official language?. Well, the first government to adopt French as its official language was the government of Aosta Valley in northwestern Italy. In 1536, Aosta Valley adopted French as their official language beating France by three years. ^ref

4.) “New Bridge” (Pont Neuf) is the name of the oldest bridge in France

France’s oldest bridge is ironically named “Pont Neuf” which means NEW BRIDGE. The famous bridge which has starred in so many movies was built way back between 1578 and 1607. ^ref

5.) King Louis XIX is the monarch with the shortest reign in history

The monarch with the record for the shortest reign is King Louis XIX of France. His reign lasted for just about 20 minutes. During a government overthrow is 1830, forces of the “revolutionary” forced his father to abdicate power to him. Just about 20 minutes after that, King Louis XIX was made to abdicate his 20 minutes old reign and throne, an incident that ended his reign. ^ref

6.) Vendors can refuse to give you a change in France

Quite funny but the reality is that in France, vendors you may patronize can refuse to give you change, and legally it is not a crime. ^ref

7.) Do you like castles? There are thousands in France

Well, castles exist in many parts of the world, most especially in Europe. However, in present day France, there are thousands of castles existing. ^ref

8.) The First Cannes Festival was cut short because of Adolf Hitler

The first Cannes Film Festival was called off after one movie because Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. ^ref

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Thank you for your time and for reading.

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