It's not true that poodles originated in France.
I found an article in the journal of genetics that says that in regards to "Poodle derivation" - it is not really well-known when or where the Poodle breed originated. There are many theories, but there is no real evidence to say that they got their start in France. Some think the Irish Wolfhound might have given rise to them, while others think they were bred from water dogs found along rivers in central Europe...