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France is home to many bizarre yet fascinating facts that may surprise you. Some are simply cool, while others are gross or utterly mind-blowing. There are even facts that will make you shudder.
No matter how you look at it, one thing is clear—these facts are strange through and through. For those unfamiliar with French culture, some of these might come as a shocking surprise, like the legality of marrying a deceased person or taking part in bizarre insurance schemes that only pay out after another person's death.
10. Legally Marrying a Deceased Person is Possible
In France, the vow “till death do us part” doesn’t always hold true. Necrogamy, or marrying the deceased, has been legal since the 19th century. However, it gained significant attention during World War I when several soldiers' fiancées sought permission to marry their fallen partners posthumously.
During that period, many of the marriages were between women and their deceased fiancés who had perished in battle. These unions were essential to ensure that the children born from these relationships would inherit their fathers' legacies.
The current law on necrogamy, however, dates back to 1959 after the tragic collapse of the Malpasset Dam, which claimed the lives of 423 individuals. Irene Jodar, the fiancée of one of the victims, Andre Capra, wrote to President de Gaulle, requesting permission to marry her deceased fiancé. De Gaulle granted her request.
Necrogamous marriages are subject to strict regulations. For one, the couple must have been planning their wedding prior to the death of one partner. The surviving partner must also have a valid reason for wanting to marry the deceased, often involving a pregnancy if the deceased partner was male.
Even after such a marriage is permitted, the surviving partner cannot claim the deceased’s property or any financial settlements. However, they may be entitled to the deceased's pension or life insurance benefits. Additionally, the surviving partner may adopt the deceased's last name, and the marriage date will be recorded as the day before the partner's death.
9. The French Government Outlawed English Words
The French government has long been concerned about the influence of English on the French language. In fact, back in 1966, President Charles de Gaulle imposed a ban on the introduction of new English words into the French lexicon. He also established the Commission d’enrichissement de la langue francaise to develop French equivalents for English terms making their way into everyday language.
The commission has seen notable success in its efforts. It replaced “e-mail” with courriel, “dark web” with internet clandestine, and “Walkman” with baladeur. It also found a French term for “fake news,” coining infox, and changed “hashtag” to mot-diese.
However, not every attempt has been successful. The commission has struggled to find a satisfactory French term for “smartphone.” Initial efforts, like ordiphone and terminal de poche, were quickly dismissed. Today, the French simply use the term mobile multifunction.
8. The Viager System Is Your Sure Bet To Get A House
Forget about mortgages; the French have a unique system called viager, which some might describe as a combination of gambling and home financing. It works similarly to a regular mortgage, but you only acquire the property once the homeowner passes away. Here's a basic breakdown of how it works:
A potential buyer makes an upfront payment to the homeowner (the seller), which is based on the value of the property. After that, the buyer continues making smaller monthly payments to the seller until the seller dies. At that point, the buyer becomes the property owner.
This system carries an element of chance, as it is impossible to predict when someone will pass away. Buyers often look for signs of poor health in the homeowner before committing. They may observe their behavior and even check their bathroom for any medication that could suggest illness.
Some crafty sellers are aware of this and may deliberately act sick when prospective buyers come to visit. They might cover their legs with a cloth and stay seated on the couch during the meeting, avoiding any movement that might suggest they have a longer life expectancy than the buyer expects.
However, the system doesn't always favor the buyer. If the buyer stops making monthly payments, they could lose the property. The sellers don’t have to return any prior payments and may even put the house on viager again.
Things can get complicated when the buyer passes away before the homeowner. This occasionally happens, especially since many sellers are widows or widowers looking to make extra income. If the buyer dies, their children are responsible for continuing the monthly payments, and failure to do so could result in losing the home.
One infamous case involved Jeanne Calment, who entered a viager agreement with her lawyer, Andre-Francois Raffray, in 1965. At the time, Calment was 90, and Raffray, around 45, thought he had struck a good deal. He paid a lump sum upfront and continued paying 2,500 francs (about $500) monthly thereafter.
Calment lived an astonishing 32 more years, reaching the age of 122—still the world record for the longest human lifespan. Raffray passed away in 1995, and his wife took over the monthly payments until she too died two years later. In the end, the deal turned out to be disastrous for Raffray and his widow, as they paid over twice the house's value.
7. The Tontine: The Ultimate Life Insurance
If the viager system blends gambling with mortgages, the tontine is a mix of gambling and life insurance. In a tontine, individuals come together to pool their contributions, which we’ll call the capital. The participants, or the insured, then earn interest on the money they contributed.
The tontine system becomes particularly interesting when one of the insured individuals passes away. Their share of interest doesn’t end but instead gets distributed among the remaining members of the group. This process continues until there’s only one person left, who then receives all the accumulated interest from the group. Once the last person dies, the government takes whatever remains.
The tontine was invented by Italian Lorenzo de Tonti in the 17th century and was introduced to French King Louis XIV. It quickly became a popular method among French royalty, who used it to raise funds for their constant wars.
Interestingly, tontines were also widespread in the United States during the 19th century. By 1905, there were nine million tontines in circulation, which was a significant number considering the population of just 18 million families at the time. Around 7.5 percent of the US population relied on tontines as a primary source of income. However, by the 20th century, tontines gradually lost their popularity in the US.
6. The Government Mandates French Songs on Radio Stations
The French government doesn’t just view English words as a threat to the French language. They’ve also identified English-language music as a major adversary. In 1994, they enacted a law requiring that at least 40 percent of songs played on radio stations must be performed by French artists and sung in French.
Over time, this led to an unusual situation where radio stations played the same songs repeatedly just to meet their local content quotas. A mere ten songs accounted for 75 percent of the airplay. This was partly due to a shortage of French songs and musicians, with many French artists opting to sing in English instead.
The bigger issue, however, was the audience, who clearly favored English-language music. In more recent years, radio stations argued that they were losing listeners to streaming platforms, which weren’t bound by the same regulations. Stations also claimed that French lawmakers kept the law in place because of their financial investments in these streaming services.
In 2015, radio stations staged a protest by refusing to play any French songs for an entire day. As a result, the government revised the law, reducing the quota to 35 percent. Additionally, it was stipulated that radio stations could only play the top ten most popular French songs for half of the time.
5. Drivers Must Legally Carry Breathalyzers
France has taken a unique approach to combat drunk driving. Instead of having police officers waiting on street corners to catch intoxicated drivers, the government requires car owners to have breathalyzers in their vehicles. The goal is to encourage drivers to self-test and determine if they are too drunk to drive.
When the law was introduced in 2012, it sparked controversy. For one, Daniel Orgeval, president of I-Test, the anti-drunk driving organization that pushed for the law, worked at Contralco, one of the two companies in France that produced breathalyzers meeting the required standards. Remarkably, Orgeval founded the group only eight months before the law passed.
Many citizens believed the law was passed to boost breathalyzer sales rather than for safety, as Orgeval and the government had claimed. However, Orgeval saw no issue with this, arguing that the law still served a positive purpose by creating jobs for French businesses. Although the government suspended the law in early 2013, it was later reinstated, and as of now, there are no penalties or fines for not having a breathalyzer in the car.
4. Drivers Are Banned From Using Phones, Even When Parked
In the United States, laws vary by state regarding phone usage while driving, but most states require drivers to pull over or use hands-free technology to make calls. In France, however, the government has a different approach.
In 2018, France passed a law making it illegal for drivers to use their phones by hand when parked on the side of the road, even if their engines are off. Phones can only be used when the vehicle is parked in a designated parking lot or an approved location. The only exception is when a car has broken down on the roadside.
Anyone caught using their phone while driving will be penalized with three points on their driving record and a €135 ($167) fine.
3. The French Government Recognizes Families That Successfully Raise Children
On May 26, 1920, the French government established the Medaille d’honneur de la famille francaise, a medal awarded to women who raised at least four children on their own. This award was created to honor women who were left widowed and had to care for their children after their husbands died during World War I.
The award had three categories: gold for mothers of eight or more children, silver for those with six or seven, and bronze for those with four or five. In some cases, exceptional mothers with only three children were also given the bronze medal. It wasn’t until 1983 that widowers were allowed to qualify for the award.
One of the first recipients of the award was Catholic priest Pere Mayotte, although he wasn't a widower. Mayotte had taken in and raised six children after their mother, a widow who worked as his housekeeper, passed away. Today, the award has been rebranded as La Medaille de la Famille, and only the bronze version is currently given.
2. Animals Need Tickets to Travel by Train in France
In France, animals are required to have tickets when traveling on trains. According to Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF), the state-run railway company, passengers must pay €7 for animals weighing less than 6 kilograms (13.2 lbs). For animals over 6 kilograms, the ticket price is half the cost of a second-class fare. However, guide dogs can travel for free.
The law once led to a strange incident when a traveler was told to purchase a €5.10 ticket for his snails. The ticket inspector insisted that the snails needed a ticket, so the traveler complied. The unusual story made the news, and for an unknown reason, SNCF later refunded the money.
1. French Law Prohibits Taking Photos of the Eiffel Tower at Night
Have you ever come across a photo of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night? You might not find as many as you'd expect. That's because taking photos of the tower at night is actually illegal. The tower’s lighting is considered a copyrighted work of art, so snapping or sharing pictures without permission is prohibited.
This law is rooted in European Union copyright regulations, which safeguard original artworks for the duration of their creators' lives and for 70 years after their death. The Eiffel Tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who passed away in 1923. While it became legal to photograph the tower in 1993, photos taken at night are still off-limits because the lighting, added in 1985, is also protected.
