Language
Not specific to France, but there have been comments advising you to learn the language; you do not have to be fluent. I've made good friends with only the six basic social niceties (yes/no; please/thank you; hello/goodbye) plus "a piece of that please". For France you might also need "Would you buy me some fuel on your card? I have the cash here".
The only other thing I have ever needed is a willingness to laugh at my own mistakes when corrected. Starting here I've normally managed to pick up some of the local language in the course of each visit, to the extent that I am now incomprehensible in several languages (must visit Gibralter soon as I speak fluent gibberish)
The exception to this was the Netherlands, where I lived for a year. I really tried, but as soon as I said "morgan (sp?)" (= hello), they heard my English accent and immediately switched to better English than I speak!
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