The French in France were about as interested in North America as the English in England. Which is to say, not all that interested.

The French in North America seem to have been quite interested in getting around the place and settling in. But in a rather different way, which might have been a bit more satisfactory for the people who were there first.

I sometimes speculate how thing might have worked out if the sentries had spotted General Wolfe's troops climbing the Heights of Abraham. An alternative history, with the French Revolution taking place in America, and a French/Meti Republic spreading west, and the mass immigration from Europe going in via the Saint Lawrence and New Orleans. Meanwhile the English Colonies, cut off from the interior, retain their British link, Canadian style, and develop as southerly Maritime Provinces...