I have a french bank account.
They required me to have a french address.
My landlord required me to have a french bank account to provide my address.
Bit of a vicious cycle but we got over it, when the landlord and the bank spoke directly.
I'm not 100% sure about this but I *think* you might have to pay tax on the capital in your account according to french tax law.
You would need to check this out if you were planning to deposit a large amount.
The interest rates in french banks is VERY low.
I struggled to get my account in our joint names.
They were pretty insistant on it being M et Mme John Smith
(All my ID is in my "maiden" name...never changed it)
Eventually 3 cheque books later I got Mary Moore et John Smith.
You have to declare these accounts in your tax returns.
All correspondance comes in french. My french is pretty good, but some of the letters about tax stuff is impenetrable.