Off to La Belle France…
France is a beautiful country with lots of history. It’s especially famous for it’s food. Maybe you’ve had a croissant before, or crepes? But French people also eat some stranger things like snails or frogs legs!
France has a lot of history as well, particularly a history of revolution! The national motto of France is ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ which means ‘Liberty, equality, brotherhood’. This was developed after the Revolution, when the people got rid of the King and decided to have a parliament instead. We’ll learn more about that later…
This workbook is all about the culture, history and food of France - we’ve even got some recipes!
This workbook has 8 different activities.
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Before you start…
You’ll need some printed worksheets to complete this workbook. Start by clicking the button below and printing out the sheets.
Get a grown up to help you if you need it.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK ‘FIT TO PAGE’ WHEN YOU PRINT
When you’ve printed out the worksheets and got a pen or pencil, then scroll down to the begin the activities.
Not sure how the workbook works? Click the button below…
Here’s a bigger map…
You can click on the purple circles to learn more - it might help you later!
First Questions
There are lots of interesting things to learn about France! Can you answer the questions in this quiz?
Remember, try not to guess but actually do some research to find out the answers - ask your parents, or look on the Internet to find the answers!
Activity 1: Famous French people
There are lots of famous French people, from writers to artists, to politicians and singers.
Can you complete the names of these famous people from France? You’ll need to do some research.
One of the answers has a star - that’s the answer that should go in the Answer Grid⭐
Activity 2: Let’s travel around France
France is a pretty big country - it’s the 3rd largest in Europe. It has roughly 6 sides, so it is sometimes called L’Hexagone which means The Hexagon (a shape with 6 sides).
A school class is travelling through France. Follow their route below, using the map on page 3 of your printed worksheets. If it helps, you can draw the route on the map on page 3.
Let’s go!
Where are the class going?
The class arrives from England through the Channel tunnel to Calais.
The train then continues and drops the class off in the capital city.
There they spend a day and then get onto a bus and drive east to the city where the European Parliament regularly meets, very close to the border.
After visiting the Parliament they drive south passing Lyon and the French Alps to arrive on the Southern coast, which is called the Côte d’Azur.
They have two lovely days on the beach. Then they continue their journey along the Pyrenees and north up the Western coast where they learn how to surf.
They continue their journey driving north all along the western coast passing La Rochelle.
In Rennes they take a left turn and drive until they can’t go any further.
Unfortunately their bus breaks down and a replacement bus needs to come in from Paris.
To which city does the replacement bus need to drive to pick up the class?______________________________⭐
The answer which goes in the Answer Grid is the final city.
Don’t forget to fill it into the Answer Grid on page X of your workbook!
Activity 3: The Tour de France
The Tour de France is held every year in the summer and is a professional cycling race. The route changes every year and goes across the whole of the country. The person who is first in the ranking each day gets to wear a yellow jersey.
These cyclists are taking part in the Tour de France. Follow their routes to see who’s winning. The answer to this puzzle is the name of the cyclist that wins the race.
Activity 4: The Storming of the Bastille
In 1789 France was a difficult place to live if you were poor. The very rich people were called nobles – they were friends with the King and Queen, lived in castles or palaces and had lots of servants to do their work for them. They didn’t pay any taxes. Everyone else, like the bakers, the merchants, the people who made things, had to pay lots of money in tax.
The working people were angry, especially as it was difficult to get food at that time. In France there was a famine, which meant it was hard to find food and simple things like bread and salt were expensive. Lots of people were hungry.
Also, the people didn’t like the King and Queen very much. King Louis XVI (the Sixteenth) was a weak King who had trouble making decisions. His wife, Queen Marie Antoinette was also unpopular because she liked expensive parties and rich food. She didn’t seem to care about the normal people of France at all.
The poor people in Paris were sick of the King so they decided it was time to get rid of him and have a Parliament instead, so the people could make some decisions. This form of government is called democracy because all the people can make decisions about laws. They wanted to fight against the King and his army but they didn’t have many guns or swords, only pitchforks and rakes. They knew that there was a supply of gunpowder in a building called The Bastille.
The Bastille was a prison where people who had upset the King went. Life there was tough and many prisoners died because it was so dirty and cold. The Bastille was also where some soldiers lived with their weapons.
On 14th July 1789, the people of Paris decided to attack the Bastille, steal the guns and free the prisoners. They did this and decided to kill the Governor of the prison and some soldiers in the process.
After this the French Revolution began. The people fought against the army and the nobles. Lots of nobles, including the King and Queen, were killed using a guillotine, which was a type of machine for cutting people’s heads off quickly.
The people took over the ruling of the country and declared France a Republic. They have never had a King or Queen since then. Unfortunately, there were lots of fights about who should be the leader of France. After about 10 years of fighting, a man called Napoleon Bonaparte took over, and ruled as if he was a King, although he called himself an Emperor. He led France into many wars and only stopped when he tried to invade Russia and failed.
Lots of famous French symbols come from the Revolution, like the French national anthem, La Marseillaise and the national motto “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” which means “Freedom, equality, brotherhood”. The storming of The Bastille, which started the Revolution, is celebrated every 14th of July and is called Bastille Day.
Now, a wordsearch…
To figure out the answer to this activity, you’ll need to complete a wordsearch based on the story above. You’ll find a copy on page 4 of the worksheets. Can you find all the words listed below in the wordsearch?
One of the words isn’t in the wordsearch. That’s the answer to this activity ⭐
Nobles
Taxes
Angry
Famine
Bread
Salt
Weak
Antoinette
Parliament
Government
Democracy
Pitchforks
Bastille
Prison
Governor
Revolution
Guillotine
Napoleon
Bonaparte
Emperor
Activity 5: Famous French Landmarks
France is filled with famous buildings, both old and new. Can you answer the questions about some different French buildings below? You might need to do some research…
Remember, the answer that goes in the Answer Grid is the one with the star next to it ⭐
Activity 6: Train timetable
France has a big train network - it’s over 18,580 miles long! You can travel around the whole country just by train.
There are really fast trains called TGVs, intercity trains, regional trains called TERs or overnight trains that you can put your car on. You can also travel to other countries like the UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.
You are at Gare du Nord in Paris. From this station trains depart to Northern France and international destinations. Make sure you don’t miss your train. Check the departure board below to find out when the trains are leaving and answer the questions on page 5.
The time is currently:
You’ll find the star for this puzzle on page 5 of the worksheets ⭐
Activity 7: In the library
Oh no!
There’s been a flood in the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (the National Library of France) where some very famous books are kept.
The records of some of the most famous French books have been damaged. Can you help the librarian by working out the missing authors and titles?
You may need to do some research on the Internet for this one.
Take a look at the records below and then fill in the copy on pages 6 & 7 of your worksheets. The star (⭐) is on the worksheet.
Activity 8: Time to Eat
The James family is going out to eat. You can see the menu below. The only problem is - it’s in French!
Can you work out what each member of the family wants to eat? Below you can find some hints about their favourite foods and what they don’t like to eat, plus a menu.
Fill in the answers on pages 8 & 9 of your worksheet. Come back here to find the final answer.
You may need to use the Internet for this puzzle, or even Google Translate. Ask an adult for help if you’re not sure.
The answer to the puzzle is May’s main course ⭐
Congratulations!
You’ve reached the end. You should have 6 answers now. You can write them all in the Answer Grid to reveal the vertical word.
Have you heard of this before? If not, look it up on Google and find some pictures!
Do you want to check your answer?
Click the button below and type in your answer. If you’ve got it right, you’ll get a congratulations message. If nothing happens, check your answers and try again!