We certainly have a tricky conjugation but we don't use all those 570 verbs [Fr. Wiki that also reads... "This figure includes all the verbs of the 3rd group and their derivatives. The number of verb roots with irregular conjugation in French is actually about fifty. Are also included many so-called archaic verbs rarely used today. Many verbs of the 3rd group are regular: verbs in -dre (except the verbs in -oudre, "to take" and their compounds), in -aindre, -eindre or -oindre, in -aître or -oître (except "naitre" ), in -enir or -evoir: their conjugation is predictable. Conversely, there are a few irregular verbs in the first and second groups: "haïr" (in the present) or "envoyer" (in the future)].
Moreover we use only 6/8 tenses in the indicative, 2/4 in the subjunctive, 2/3 in the conditional moods, half of these tenses being compound tenses, so you only have to know the past participle. So French isn't the hardest language to learn for an English speaker (9/28 according to this site).
Last but not least, Verbix, a very useful tool to conjugate verbs in many languages!
Well, seems the thread has done like the Canadian guy: it's wandered!