How France actually works
A free living in France quiz on daily-life mechanics: the pharmacie de garde, what a tabac actually sells, RTT days, la rentrée. B1 level, scored on the page.
Closed for lunch, gone in August
France runs on a timetable nobody hands you: the tabac that sells metro tickets, the pharmacy on duty at midnight, the May calendar full of holes. Fourteen questions to check whether you could get through a normal French week.
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The living in France quiz: daily life, tested
This quiz tests the operating system of French daily life: why the tabac sells stamps and transport cards, what to do when every pharmacy is closed on Sunday, what your colleague means by « je pose une RTT », and why the entire country resets in September. People get this wrong because none of it is taught: it is absorbed. You learn it standing confused at a closed préfecture at 12h30, or asking a pharmacist for something the supermarket legally cannot sell.
Take it free, get your score on the page, retake it whenever. The answer key explains each mechanism, not just the correct option, so the quiz doubles as a crash course. If you are moving to France or already there, the Learning Center has full guides on administration and daily life, and The French Briefing gives you short daily reads on what France is actually talking about this week.
What is a pharmacie de garde?
The duty pharmacy open on Sundays, holidays and at night in each area, on a rotating schedule. Find it via the sign on any closed pharmacy, the site 3237.fr, or by calling 3237. In some cities you must go through the police station at night.
What are RTT days in France?
« Réduction du temps de travail » : extra days off compensating employees who work more than the legal 35 hours per week. Typical packages give around 9 to 12 RTT days per year on top of the five weeks of paid vacation. Not every contract includes them.
What does la rentrée mean?
Literally « the return » : the collective restart in early September after the August shutdown. Schools resume, parliament returns, new books and TV shows launch, gyms fill up. It functions as a second New Year, complete with resolutions, and dominates French conversation for weeks.
