I don't live in France anymore and don't have the accounts but they were big banks: Credit Agricole and Caisse D'Epargne. I've heard similar stories with Banque

I don't live in France anymore and don't have the accounts but they were big banks: Credit Agricole and Caisse D'Epargne. I've heard similar stories with Banque Populaire too. As for cheque usage, 4 years ago (when I was there) loads of people were still using them (young and old). This is in central and south France (no idea about Paris, never lived there).