The notion that I should be fluent in French to fly to a small French airfield is rubbish. There are plenty of pilots I've heard on the radio in England with poor English. These are both PPLs and ATPLs (probably doing their IRs). Air traffic controllers slow down and make extra effort to be clear, to accommodate these poor English skills, and so do I, as another pilot on frequency who wants to make sure I'm understood too. At the end of the day, they know enough to get by, and they'll improve.
I see no reason why the same accommodation wouldn't be made in France.
Then again it's a well-known fact that if you speak English only LOUDER they're more likely to understand. BREAD! I want some BREAD!