Use this tag for questions about claims based in France, or limited to France.
Questions tagged [france]
55 questions
27
votes
0 answers
Is pollution the main cause of Notre Dame Cathedral's deterioration?
A 2017 Time article discussing the crumbling, wearing out, and water damage of France's Notre Dame Cathedral prior to the 2019 fire writes (emphasis added):
Notre Dame, which looms over the capital from an island in the center of the city, is a…
Barry Harrison
- 14,093
- 4
- 68
- 101
27
votes
1 answer
Were the Paris attackers youths from Syria?
Recently, Bill Nye was interviewed by Huff Post Live.
In one excerpt of the interview he draws a line of causation from a water shortage in Syria to the November 2015 Paris attacks.
He was transcribed by the Washington Times (note: not the…
Ten Bitcomb
- 2,180
- 3
- 14
- 16
18
votes
1 answer
Did France ban wifi in schools and daycares in 2015 because of health concerns?
A variety of websites (along with many claims on social media sites like Instagram) claim a law that went into effect in January 2015 bans wifi in schools and nurseries for health reasons.
One links to the statute, but I have no French comprehension…
warren
- 996
- 2
- 10
- 23
16
votes
1 answer
Is there a French law governing the shape of the croissant?
Many popular articles, forum discussions, etc. claim that in France, the curved croissants are typically made with margarine, while the straight ones are made with butter (and are ostensibly superior). E.g. Adam Gopnik writes in the New Yorker,
"As…
AnatolyVorobey
- 441
- 4
- 6
16
votes
2 answers
Is there a woman named Lilly who is engaged to a robot she built?
The Daily Mail informs us that:
A French woman has revealed she is in love with a robot and determined to marry it. [...]
Now, Lilly is reportedly engaged to the robot and says they will marry when human-robot marriage is legalised in France.
This…
Sklivvz
- 78,578
- 29
- 321
- 428
16
votes
1 answer
Did Benjamin Franklin almost cause a war between England and France over a hoax letter to a London newspaper?
This story shows up a lot in sites like Reddit:
In the late 1700's, a letter appeared in the major London newspaper complaining that England was being forced to take deported French prisoners. The British were furious and wanted it stopped. The…
Soandso
- 161
- 1
- 3
15
votes
3 answers
Did Europe have a Covid-19 case in December 2019?
CNN reports that a Frenchman named Amirouche Hammar had Covid-19 in December in Paris. This was supposedly discovered after old samples were re-checked for the Covid-19 virus.
Alas there's hardly any detail in that news report besides the fact that…
Fizz
- 57,051
- 18
- 175
- 291
14
votes
1 answer
Has wholesale electricity price in France increased to €1000 per MWh, up from €85 per MWh?
This broadcast ...
France to restart all nuclear reactors by winter amid energy crunch • FRANCE 24 English
... says:
The wholesale price for 2022 was €85 per MWh and the price for 2023 has gone up to over €1000.
Is that true? That is a pretty…
ChrisW
- 26,552
- 5
- 108
- 141
12
votes
1 answer
Do “Soupeurs” exist?
I was chatting with some friends and the topic of the “Soupeur” came up. Apparently this is a word used in France to describe the practice of — and I quote:
“…a sexual practice involving attraction to other male secretions, specifically bread…
Giacomo1968
- 5,508
- 6
- 25
- 52
12
votes
1 answer
Did France flood Guinea with counterfeit currency to destabilize it?
I've read in several Pan-Africanist and conspiracy theory sources (e.g. here and here) that France during the Fifth Republic smuggled in counterfeit Guinean Franc into Guinea in order to destabilize its economy after it gained independence.
I…
Zudios
- 121
- 4
11
votes
3 answers
Did the policeman in charge of the Charlie Hebdo investigation take his own life?
Conspiracy news site, YourNewsWire, posted an article claiming that Commissioner Helric Fredou, the French policeman investigating the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris last week, took his own life last Thursday.
I have done a few searches on his name…
Nick Tann
- 101
- 4
11
votes
1 answer
Did Napoleon introduce driving on the right side because he was left-handed?
Traffic has almost always been keep-to-the-left since at least the time of Rome until relatively recently.
Some historians, such as C. Northcote Parkinson, believed that ancient travellers on horseback generally rode on the left side of the road.…
user7920
10
votes
1 answer
Did Germany and France offer help to Italy in the Covid-19 crisis?
An opinion piece published yesterday by DW says:
The first thing that fell by the wayside, as always in times of crisis, was solidarity. It was Italy, the first country hit by the Corona crisis — and hit hardest of all — that had the bitter of…
Fizz
- 57,051
- 18
- 175
- 291
10
votes
1 answer
Did people run through the military graveyards at Verdun?
This Dailymail article claims this:
Some 3,400 children ran among the graves of soldiers who died in the battle of Verdun as part of a stunt choreographed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, who argued that he was 'trying to depict the chaos of…
JS Lavertu
- 282
- 2
- 14
10
votes
2 answers
Was French spelling artificially altered for longer words?
There's a widespread belief that says that the reason for French having so many silent letters is that historically the authors were paid by the letter, so they were tempted to write longer words. This is likely false for a number of reasons, but I…
Vitaly Mijiritsky
- 1,073
- 10
- 14