Some of the ways in which France is different,

It's a huge place. You drive for days, literally, and you still haven't covered quarter of it. The landscape arrives in huge swathes, and the occasional district of small fields and woods suddenly reminds you how tiny England is.
They have had a love-affair with concrete for decades, painted or more usually bare, so it forms the skins of their houses, their walls, fences, telegraph poles, bridges, road signs, lamp-posts, everything.
They still believe in family life and little children walk along holding their parents' hands, and it's normal to see the whole family out for a stroll, any time.
Everything stops about midday for lunch. You can park for free in any city centre from 12 - 2 because the whole world is having lunch.
When you go into a small shop, whether you know anyone there or not, you say 'Bon jour messieurs, mesdames!' and when you leave you say 'Au revoir'.
At about 7 in the evening, or when it gets dark, or before that, everyone goes into their houses and shuts the shutters and that's it. All street life ceases.
When you choose meat in a resto, and they ask how you want it cooked, always choose 'saignant' or very lightly cooked. All Frenchmen know that cooking meat 'well' means it goes tough, and only the English ask for it 'bien cuit'. They do not care if your meat is inedibly tough as you are an English person.
The French often have much longer to stand and chat than English people do at home. You can talk endlessly about very little - the weather, madame's dog, the local food, the rise of the euro, whatever you like - as long as you pronounce it properly. For the French, conversation itself is endless fascinating, an art form.
In any town or city it is worth seeking out the Musee des Beaux Artes, or d'Archaeologie, as these places are very well-funded and the exhibits are brilliantly presented and very educational.
Looking for a meal, we all know - follow the lorry drivers... the plat is always good value, and unlike in England, the cheapest thing is often the best.
The French label all their rivers as you drive over them, an excellent idea.
They also have wonderful cultural road signs in brown or shades of brown...telling you of the local sights and heritage. We should do this in England too.