Being French too (and having taking Japanese course as well), I confirm what ficelle said.^^ As for me, sometimes, when I try to speak Japanese too fast, I end up mispronouncing the "R" letter lol! And yes Candeloro is different from French to Japanese not only because of the "R", but also for the "AN" which is a sound itself in French that is very different from "A"+"N" and from "KY+YA+N" association in Japanese. I hope what I said make sense, lol.
Japan is very popular in France. Though many love it mainly for the anime/manga and the food (there's quite a share of J-Pop fans here too), it's very easy to find travel agencies that propose trips to Japan. The only thing I regret is that I fail to find proposed trips to Tohoku since 2011...