Well, I've received a few more posts from the French newsgroup.
It seems that before adoption of the new color code around 1970 that France used a variety of schemes, more or less depending upon the person installing the wiring. Somebody mentioned that he's even seen red used for ground, German-style. (Perhaps in eastern France? I don't know.)
However, it seems as though the modern standard for phase colors is black, red, brown, and that they often use orange for 3-way switch travelers.
