You're foreign. You have one up on every other guy in France already. The same applies to any foreign guy.

Jokes? Why make jokes if you can't tell them? Jokes aren't important. Sure it's nice to joke around but you don't have to be that guy. Work with what you have. Are you more down to earth, able to talk and build comfort? Do it. Work on your approach. Perfect example is just sitting beside some woman and saying you're new and looking for places to visit or if you're at a party and don't know anyone sit beside a group of women and say "I'm new here and I need friends. You are going to be my new friends for tonight." Don't ask them, just make that statement. Be cocky/funny and confident. It's a sure thing. If you're studying there just sit beside a woman and say "Hey, you're going to be my new friend." then introduce yourself. c/f gets you in, confidence gets you attention thus interest. Once you build a social circle choose your target and use kino.

Also, if you're American don't talk about your country, your views on the war, what you think of Bush, Obama or whatever else you think is important because Europeans fucking hate American politics. If you do talk about the US talk about your experiences, your GOOD experiences that don't involve guns, hunting animals or that time you had a threesome. Just talk about trips to different states, how beautiful X is and how surprised the girls would be. That's all you need to focus on, the nice stuff the stuff these women would actually do and could associate with you.

The above post has some very good advice.

I also live in France. I don't know about Paris or Parisian women, but the stereotype seems to be that a lot of them tend to be snobbish & high maintenance. The town where I'm living is also very much like this. Sure, there are some (VERY) hot girls, but a lot of them (not all) are very pretentious.

I have to be honest with you: The majority of the time, I find lots of French girls just totally snobby, pretentious, and they LOVE drama! Haha! But you can try to make this work in your favour! Just be the cool, mysterious, maybe slightly "aloof" foreign guy, and take it from there! You say your French is already at a decent level, which is great. If you have an accent when you speak French, this may also work to your advantage. You can have some laughs with all kinds of language related stuff! You don't want to be a performing seal/class clown! But sometimes languages and a slight breakdown in communication can bring some fun to the party! Just make sure the French girls are having fun with you, and that they're intrigued, and you'll be golden!

And just to repeat: (Most) French girls are VERY high maintenance & love drama! You have been warned!

You are absolutely right about everything you just said, I guess the main problem for me is finding the confidence to approach girls randomly on the street or at a bar, and alone because I have quite a lack of male comradery here also. Parisians tend not to be the most friendly people so it's hard for me to muster up the confidance in broken french to be that random dude on the street and expect a positive response. But as I have been doing I will continue to put myself out there and one day something will happen. Thanks for the reinforcement bro!