69 Fun Facts About France

69 facts is back! This time featuring the lovely country of France, because well, who can resist a country that creates superior wine, beautiful art and genetically blessed people? I think 69 facts is quite fitting. After all, who doesn't love the French? (when they are not driving, of course).

1. There is a Victor Hugo street in every town in France.
2. It's illegal to name a pig Napoleon in France.
3. Charles VIII had six toes on one foot and hid this fact by wearing and promoting square toe shoes.
4. The guillotine was the official method of execution during the French Revolution. It was invented by a surgeon named Dr. Guillotin.
5. France produces over 400 types of cheese!

Language:
6. French is the official language of many countries including: Switzerland, Canada, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Monaco, Congo and Niger.
7. The word "salut" means both "hello" and "goodbye"
8. French was the official language of England for over 300 years.
9. It's the mother tongue of 75 million people worldwide.
10. It's the second most commonly taught foreign language, after English.
11. It's the official language of the United Nations.
12. It's the only language (along with English) that's taught in every country in the world.
13. Crayola is a French word that means "oily chalk"
14. At the time of the French Revolution, 75% of French citizens didn't speak French as a mother tongue.
15. Non-French celebrities who speak French include: Jodie Foster, Johnny Depp, Diane Kruger, Elton John, Ewan Mcgregor, Halle Berry, Jackie O, Madonna, Mick Jagger, and John Travolta.
16. 34% of the French can speak English.
17. Between 6-11 million Americans speak French.

18. On the French radio between 8am to 8pm, music must be by French artists.
19. The heir to the French throne was called Le Dauphin, which also means "dolphin."
20. The French eat snails, frog's legs and horsemeat.
21. In 1386, a pig was hung in France for the murder of a child.

Love and Romance
22. The number of times the French kiss each other as a form of greeting varies depending on region. In Corsica, the number of kisses can be as many as 5! (If you have a hot first date, you now know where to go)
23. According to a 2003 survey, the French have the most sex in a year (unsurprisingly!)
24. It's illegal to kiss on railways in France (oops).
25. "French kiss" is a term by the English as a slur on the French culture which was thought to be overly concerned with sex.
26. In France, it's called a tongue kiss or soul kiss.
27. French men have the lowest level of obesity in the EU, and women are second after Denmark.
28. The French have one of the highest life expectancies in the EU (I think there's a strong correlation of this fact to #23)
29. First Lady Carla Bruni has been known to have a string of relationships with famous men including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and Donald Trump.

Fun Facts About Australia According to Bill Bryson

Since "69 Fun Facts About Germany" generated so much excitement (although I speculate it is mainly because of that ab-licious photo of Michael Ballack) I've decided to create a similar post about Australia, which is one of my favourite countries. Having read and loved Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (Also known as Down Under to Brits and Aussies, and Frühstück mit Kängurus to the Germans) I decided to base these fun facts from what Mr. Bryson shares with us in his delightful novel. While I did not entirely enjoy Bryson's earlier work Neither Here Nor There, I found him to be highly entertaining in this memoir, as he shares many exciting facts about the land Down Under. I highly recommend this book as it definitely does an amazing job of capturing the spirit of this sunny nation. Here are some of my favourite facts from this book:

• As many of you already know, the Brits sent their convicts to Australia in the late eighteenth century. While the voyage took 252 days they were lucky - upon landing, the Brits spotted two French ships in the horizon. Meaning, had they taken a day longer to arrive, Australia would have been a French colony (49).

• The Opera House was designed by the Danish architect, Joern Utzon. Utzon, surprisingly , never ended up seeing his prized creation, after leaving the project due to disputes about its rising costs, and returned to Denmark (55).

• Sir Eugene Goossens, the man who came up with the idea to build the Opera House, never saw the final creation either - while passing customs in Sydney, he was discovered carrying a large collection of porn and was asked to leave the country (55).

• Lachlan Macquarie, the Scottish governor of the colony in the beginning of the nineteenth century,  was nearly successful at attempting to name every object in the continent after himself. As a result, there is the Macquarie Harbour, Macquarie Island, Macquarie  Marsh, Macquarie River, Macquarie Fields, Macquarie Pass, Macquarie's Chair, Macquarie's Point and a Macquarie town. Macquarie is also a bank, university, the national dictionary, a shopping centre, an ice rink, and countless roads, streets and avenues. And that doesn't even include all the places named after his first name Lachlan... (66).

• A suggested name for the nation's capital Canberra was "Sydmeladperbrisho" (using the first syllables of the state capitals) (86). 

69 Fun Facts About Germany

In the midst of being overly excited about my move to Germany next year and trying to figure out this ancient looking application, I thought this post should be appropriate. Being inspired by a travel memoir I'm currently reading (look for a review to come out soon!) I've also added a "German word of the day" widget at the side of my blog. Why 69 fun facts? Because I didn't have enough facts to make it to 100, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of German lovin'. Enjoy!

1. Germans are the second largest beer consumers in the world, after the Irish (of course).
2. Beer is officially considered a food in Bavaria.
3. Michael Ballack does not like beer.
4. Germany is Europe’s largest economy.
5. The most popular German surname (Nachname) is Müller.
6. Chancellor Angela Merkel has a Barbie doll made after her. 
7. Historically, Germany was known as the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Weimar Republic.
8. 31% of the country has been kept with forests and woodlands, with Hesse having the most.
9. There are over 300 kinds of bread in Germany.  
10. There are also bread museums.
11. There are 35 dialects of the German language.
12. The Wittelsbachs ruled Bavaria for 738 years.
13. Munich is further north than any major US city (excluding Alaska). 
14. German is the official language of 5 countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. It is also spoken in Northern Italy and the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.
15. Germany is the first country to adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 1916.
16. 2% of Germans do not own cell phones.
17. Gummy bears were invented by a German.
18. The balcony of the hotel Michael Jackson dangled his son over is in Berlin.
19. While it is called Oktoberfest, it actually starts in Steptember.
20. The first Oktoberfest was a wedding celebration for Prince Ludwig of Bavaria.
21. 65% of the Autobahn (highway) has no speed limit.
22.  The Cologne Cathedral took 632 years to build. (Bill Bryson in Neither Here Nor There (p. 88) wrote: "It is absolutely immense, over 500 feet long and more than 200 feet wide...It can hold 40,000 people. You can understand why it took 700 years to build - and that was with German workers. In Britain they would still be digging the foundations.")
23. The first printed book was in German.
24. German is the third most commonly taught language worldwide.
25. When JFK visited Berlin, he infamously said “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which also translates to “I am a jelly donut.”
26. Hugo Boss designed the official uniforms for the Nazi Party and Hitler Youth. (I did an assignment on this for German class if anyone is interested in reading more about it)
27. To ask for a beer in a pub, you would use your thumb to indicate “one” rather than your index finger (watch Inglorious Basterds for improper examples of ordering beer)
28. Til Schweiger, sometimes known as the "German Brad Pitt,” is born one day after Pitt.
29. The longest word published in the German language is Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft (79 letters). Try saying that five times fast.