I'm no expert on French food in general, as I've only been to Paris, and just once, but what struck me most about the food wasn't that cooked restaurant food was better than what I could get in the US—sometimes it was very good, sometimes it wasn't, I had a couple really bad steaks and the second worst slice of pizza I've ever tried while I was there—but that the basic, average ingredients were as good as or better than the very best I could find at home. Produce (and I was there in December!), cheese, bread, that kind of stuff.