Fountain pens were very common in Spain too not so long ago. I went to school in the 80s and many children had fountain pens. Erasable pens mostly finished with them, and nowadays children learn writing in a very different way (they start writing in caps, and only later they learn cursive).
It's not a panacea in France though, since people usually buy their kids cheap ones which leave a lasting bad impression. Many people get very defensive about handwriting and that is partly accountable to the terrible fountain pens they had to learn with.