France paperwork required for entry

No
Just need your passport

Thank you, my thoughts also. One of our traveling companions see this list and is worried

A valid passport issued less than 10 years before and valid for at least 3 months after the envisaged departure date;
A valid visa, if required;
Proof of accommodation covering the whole duration of the stay (hotel reservation and/or certificate of staying with a relative validated in the town hall);
Sufficient financial means. The means of subsistence shall be assessed according to the duration and purpose of the stay and by reference to the average prices for accommodation and food in the Member States;
Your return ticket or the financial means to acquire one at the envisaged return date;
Any document providing details on the profession or the capacity of the traveller as well as on the establishments or organisations located in France which are expecting you, if you are on a professional trip.
You must have an insurance certificate covering all medical and hospital expenses for which you may be liable for the duration of your stay in France, as well as medical repatriation costs and expenses in the event of death.

Are all of you traveling on US passports?

These measures are primarily intended to prevent illegal immigration. Unless you appear suspicious to an immigration officer, you will only be asked for your passport (and your visa if this applies to your situation).

Imagine having to check, read, and understand the insurance certificate and calculate the means of subsistence for the duration of the stay provided by the 100 million visitors from dozens of countries who come to France each year.

Although it's highly unlikely that you'll be asked to provide documentation for even one of those items, let alone all of them, it's actually wise to have all of that, most notably the health insurance. And it can't hurt for at least one member of your party to have all the various accommodation reservations in one place, whether printed out or electronic.

Yes, all US passports

If you say you are on vacation and can show a return plane ticket, that is likely all that would matter if questioned

I just booked on an American Airlines flight NY-Paris round trip. On the airline booking, I see “Travelers must have proof of accommodation during their stay in France. If travelers will be hosted by a relative or friend, the host must be a France Status Holder or a legal resident.” The source is cited as France-visas
I am staying with friends for part of my trip, but I have a hotel booked for my first 3 nights. The place with friends is an AirBNB, so I've asked them if I can get proof of intention to stay at the AirBNB. For my last 2 nights I plan to stay with my niece who lives in Paris.
Others on this thread have said this shouldn't be a problem, but I'm the kind of traveler who likes to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

The most I've ever been asked is whether I was staying at a hotel or at an apartment. When said "hotel" she just nodded, handed me back my passport, and said "Enjoy your stay."

You are correct. All of these items, and more, are stated requirements to enter into France, even for US passport holders. This is the applicable law:

https://france-visas.gouv.fr/en_US/web/france-visas/your-arrival-in-france?fbclid=IwAR3pvzn5jUXVwUw99238pZQsq5KbwFYomsEwfXq2S3xXWeOnZHGR2XASzEw

However, immigration will not ask a US passport holder for any of this.

I will bookmark this topic to watch for comments from anyone encountering a more stringent application of the law.
In the meantime I have inquired of my friends who are renting the house where I will stay for a week. They are going to ask the owner of the house, from whom they rent. The house is advertised on AirBNB, but I think their own rental is directly with the owner, not via AirBNB.
Worst case, I figured it wouldn't be hard for my friends to write me an unofficial letter giving the address of the house, a rent receipt for their rental of the house, and stating that I am paying $xx to them to stay there for xx dates.

When we had to do written paperwork, I had a UK person ask about my AIRBNB address once and I said it was a rented flat on AIRBNB and he was like OK. Then he just asked what I was planning to do; after three things, he got bored and said, go ahead. That is how it has been in every other country even since it has been automated. They look at my passport, ask a question or two, and then give me the go ahead especially if they ask something that requires having a plan. I legit have everything printed in case but have never needed it (not just Europe).

eptld, I'm all for taking care of business, covering your bases, leaving no stone unturned like you are, but our immigration passport officer at CDG last year looked about 16 years old and barely made eye contact, so I'm having a hard time visualizing him reading a letter from your friend about how much you are paying them a portion of the rent to stay in their Airbnb with them; explaining though your friends are going direct through the owner, not the corporation.

eptld, what are you fearing? If your papers are ok, if you have a ticket for your retourn-flight, then you won't have any problem. There are so many tourists who are driving a road-trip and camping, so they don't have accommodation prebooked.
If you want to drive a car, you'd need an IDP.

This is one of the questions like carrying a passport, luggage size, medicine transportation. There are laws and then there is what everyone does. You get to choose to follow the law and be 1000% sure or you can do what everyone does and never get caught, cause no one ever gets caught but those telling you that arent comming to get you if you do get caught. Im not sure why you would be traveling without your insurance card and the booking confirmation on that canal boat and what ever hotels you are staying at. Do you usually not at least keep that stuff on your phone? These arent new rules they were in place on my first trip in 1979 and since then no one has ever been asked. Wait, there is another post were the RS person was refused entry to the flght because she didnt have a return ticket. What country was that to? That was just a few weeks ago.

The reality is this. They can ask for almost anything they want.

What they are trying to do is make sure you are there for tourist purposes and not to work, overstay your visa, have enough funds to take care of yourself, or cause any trouble.

You might want to have some information readily available..

--return tickets,

--proof of funds (a credit card or two will suffice. You don't need bank records,)

--names of hotels

--your basic itinerary or plans. (Tell them some of the things you plan to do. It doesn't have to be minute by minute. They are trying to determine if you are a legitimate tourist.)

It's highly doubtful they will ask for proof of accomodations. Mostly just ask questions.

I"m in and out of Europe quite a bit. The biggest gruelilng I ever got was entering Sweden from another Schengen country. I had to answer a bunch of questions and show proof of my departure from Schengen. I wasn't ready because it was Schengen to Schengen and didn't expect passport control.

Most of the time, if I am asked questions, it's "how long are you staying" and "where are you going."

The best one I got was in London prior to egates. I was asked why I was coming to England. I said "to see the sights, spend some money, and then go home." The Border Force officer, a nice young lady, smiled and said "And we appreciate it. Have a nice time."

IATA is the service that most, if not all, airlines use to ensure that their passengers are legal to enter the destination country. The airliens care because if the passenger isnt legal, the airline has to fly them back home.

The portal for travelers like you and me is at this link: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/ Put in your data and it will tell you what you need to enter a country. Its not realy easy to follow because there are a lot of drop down links for more infomration one of which for France contains the requirement for proof of accommodation and one that requires that you have $30,000 in medical insurance. I traveled last January and the country I went to did indeed check my medical insurance before they handed back my passport. And I have had passport control ask for my hotel name a number of times. None have yet to ask for proof, but the rules say they can and you had better have it. Wait, thats not true, one country did ask for proof; russia. A few countries still have entry forms you have to fill out on the plane (Mexico and Hounduras for instance) and the form wants the name of your hotel. So it happens.

Everyone should have the link to the IATA Travel Center and should check the requirements before travel. Just too easy to do and the requirements are almost always fullfilled, just a matter of putting all the documents in one place so you can find them if asked.

In this link https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/at-delta-gate-told-i-needed-a-french-visa since the passenger did not have a return ticket I am assuming that they entered "One Way" thus requiring the Visa. When it happens the responses are generally "well of course", when someone is asking could it happen the responses are generall "no, never happens".

Never have been asked by any uniformed personnel at Immigration upon entry in FRA or CDG , the only 2 in Schengen I fly into from SFO, if I had a return plane ticket home. I had the return flight confirmation number but no print out copy....all details hand written.

Mr. E, I'm willing to bet the country that asked for proof of medical insurance was not in western Europe? Probably not in the EU. Perhaps Eastern Europe?

I got nailed!!! But it is a requirement in France https://youtu.be/TD891G2byts?si=SZeEnBJfljeVA5Hq

"""They can ask for almost anything they want."""
NO, they can't. We live in Europe! There are rules which everybody has to follow.
Depending on your Nationality you have to have different papers. But as you seem to live in USA you don't need a Visa, you don't need to show any amount of money. But you have to have your ticket for your flight back.

I'm sorry but this is silly. We have a bunch of experienced RS "Travelers" saying that they cant, and more surprisingly, DON'T put their hotel reservations, insurance card and onward ticket on their phones? They cant access their bank records on their phone? Really? 95% of us comply without doing anything special. The other 5% should have read the rules and canceled their holiday if they didnt want to book a fully refundable 3 star hotel room and spend $25 on a bus ticket across the nearest Schengen border.

spend $25 on a bus ticket across the nearest Schengen border.

This is interesting. Where exactly is this $25 bus ride that takes you outside the Schengen zone?

So you can demonstrate you are leaving Schengen, anyone hazard to guess which Schengen countries border non-Schengen countries? Or if you think it would be safer to demonstrate direct from Paris, then Wizz flies to EIGHT non-schengen countries for $45 and up. Or if you cant for the life of you figure out how to arrange your holiday to ben in compliance with the rules of the host country in which you will be a guest, stay home.

Comparing and contrasting (this is the essence of questions put to you upon arrival at Immigration , isn't it?) , only the UK was more inquisitive than in Paris or Frankfurt.

There in FRA and CDG the few questions asked are more perfunctory, eg, the usual what is the purpose, why are you here (Urlaub, or I'm here on vacation), where are you going (just Austria, France and Germany) but never ever anything regarding med insurance, a return ticket home, hotel reservations (which means I would have to pull the hand written travel calendar plan, or if I have sufficient funds to last the my trip.

Basically, after literally the 2 or 3 questions, the passport having been scanned, I get the passport stamp, which is what I want, I'm done. Most likely when I'm back the end of May 2026 at CDG with passport stamping already abolished (a pity) , we'll see happens....tant pis.

Likewise at Border Control , say at Passau on the night train, or "random" passport checks , say in France where last summer I was checked twice, almost a 3rd time on a TGV day train, still all very civil and pleasant in French.

You've heard of making a "mountain out of a molehill" then this thread has become that.

Technically, you are supposed to have all they request. The practicality is they may ask you a few questions to make sure you are a bonafide tourist.

How you answer is just as important as what you answer. Be relaxed and calm. If you're calm, they're calm.

Common questions are "how long are you staying?" "What are going to do?" If you tell them exactly as you wrote it above, they will probably be stamping your passport before you get to "Two nights in Sete."

If they ask to see your return ticket, either have it available on your phone or a copy of your printout.

In all the times I've entered Schengen, I've only once been asked to show proof once. And that's since Schengen was started over 30 years ago.

I've entered numerous Schengen borders where I wasn't asked anything. This includes...are you ready....Hungary.

Entering Austria in October, I was asked how long I plan to stay in Schengen. I said "two months." She looked at the stamps in my pasport and asked if I had checked the dates. I told her I did the math...twice. She stamped my passport.

In some places, the exchange was pleasant. At Luxembourg airport, the border agent said he was sorry it was raining and he hoped it stopped so I could enjoy my stay.

They are not out to get you. They just want to make sure you follow the conditions of your visa.

You've heard of making a "mountain out of a molehill" then this thread
has become that.

You're right Frank cause the overwhelming majority have everything that can be asked for. The few that dont because their travel style doesn't permit planning, even when required by the host country....well probably nothing bad will happen and if it does, just dont complain.