French Authorities Stop Quiz Offering Dordogne Country House As Prize

A French couple who used a quiz to generate interest in the sale of their country house in the Dordogne region has been forced to stop after France's online gaming authorities stepped in.

The house in question belongs to Brigitte and Christophe Demassougne house. In Cenac-et-Saint-Julien, around 80 kilometres southeast of Perigueux in the Dordogne region, it is an 18th-century building known as a Chartreuse. The property also includes stables, a tennis court, a pool, and gardens.

The Demassougnes originally put the property on the market with an estimated value of more than 1.5 million euros. To encourage buyers, they started an online quiz – on 1 April – which would offer the property as a prize to the person who answered all the question correctly.

The quiz included two questions and participants also had to estimate the value of three objects.

According to the couple, nearly 20,000 people signed up, paying 13 euros each, which has raised 260,000 euros.

But French authorities intervened. On Thursday the couple received a letter from the Arjel online gaming regulator which cited a 2014 law that forbids games of chance based on individual expertise.

The couple has eight days to prove the contrary. Brigitte Demassougne told the AFP press agency that she was "pessimistic" about her chances of doing so, and promised that players would get their money back.

In the meantime, the house is still on the market.

(With the Newswires)