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No; under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, all a bike needs when crossing borders is:
-An efficient brake
-A bell – and no other audible warning device
-A red rear reflector
-A red rear lamp
-A white or selective yellow front lampSee http://www.cyclinguk.org/cyclists-library/regulations/international-traffic for more info.
If I've read that correctly you don't have to have the bell or lights when in France, as they don't require either in their regs - you just need the lesser of the Vienna or local requirements.
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tl;dr: wheel reflectors in France, need them or no?
Whatever the rules say in theory, in practice no. I've ridden in France on many occasions, and on absolutely none of them have I ever had a bell or any reflectors, and none of the people I've been riding with have either.
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Thrustvector
Brommers
@Doctor_Cake
Off to France on Monday for a mini cycling tour, and have seen that according to French law a bike must have rear red reflector, front white reflector, and orange wheel reflectors (as well as orange pedal reflectors).
I've got all of these except the wheel reflectors (they don't seem to make them for bromptons anymore). Anyone have any French experience about how much of a hassle it would be to go without (ie, it's the same as the pedal reflector law in the UK, you're supposed to have it, but it's really super unlikely the cops will pull you up for not having them), or should I be hastily buying reflective tape to stick on my spokes?
tl;dr: wheel reflectors in France, need them or no?