The French used both very high quality machine guns and very low quality and unreliable machine guns. They did not produce many of their own original designs, and they used machine guns manufactured in other countries as well as their own.
HOTCHKISS M1914 - The Hotchkiss M1914 was the standard machine gun of the French army during world war I. It was chambered in the 8mm Lebel Cartridge, which was the same cartridge utilized in their rifles, making ammo interchangeable. It was much more complex than it's counterparts. It had a gas actuated system, but nevertheless, it was still very reliable. It was also air cooler, hence the flutes on the barrel, which was a drawback, since it could not be fired for long periods of time. It was also very heavy, making it almost immobile once stationed with a crew.
Chauchat - The Chauchat machine gun was named after Colonel Louis Chauchat, who was the guns designer. The Chauchat also fired the 8mm Lebel Cartridge, making ammo interchangeable with other French service rifles. Due to the nature of this guns design, it was notoriously unreliable. The magazine under the rifle was exposed, and it was susceptible to dirt and mud, making the gun jam too often. It was also manufactured with poor quality materials, and the French hated it with a passion. Furthermore, it had a limited ammo capacity of 20 rounds and an extremely slow rate of fire. This firearm has gone down in history as one of, if not the most unreliable machine gun of all time.