I have seen France be strong and weak, but it depends on which faction I am. When I play as Prussia I usually draw all the attention from Europe factions which means France gets to be quite strong. When I play as GB or UP, I smash the french navy early on and they sputter out and are never a threat during the game. I dont like to play as France because their starting provinces dont interest me much. I agree that they should divide France into having at least one extra region.