First let me clarify that although a lot of the things mentioned below are negative, the French do not dislike Americans. The culture is quite different, and obviously they prefer their's, or they would not live in Europe. Also, a lot of the conceptions about American life are based on media, especially movies. Of course, films do not usually provide a normal glimpse of everyday life.
Speaking of films, the United States has a reputation for producing stupid movies without any artistic value. I've seen enough predictable chick flicks and over-dramatic action movies to agree. Still, even the french, especially teenagers, enjoy a good stupid movie now and then.
A lot of people have asked me questions about things they've seen in American films like, "do people really put kick-me signs on other people's backs?" The most common question I get is about high school. The impression is that the quarterback is always with the head cheerleader, and they rule the school social scene. Of course, they phrase it differently, since I'm not sure "quarterback" and "cheerleader" exist in the french language. They say pom-pom girl, which reflects the general negative attitude towards the activity.
One person told me that she had a friend who went to the US and said school was really like that, with big metal lockers and everything. I tell people that it depends on the school, and although it's not as dramatic as disney and hollywood make it out to be, the student body is more clique-y than in France.
As for adults, the perception is that they drink a lot of coffee and work a lot. Our country does consume a lot of coffee, but I don't think we're work-a-holics. This view probably stems from our capitalistic "if you work hard enough you'll succeed" attitude.
They also believe that families have multiple, big cars and don't care about the environment. I think that most people do care, they just don't do as much about it as Europeans. It seems that there is a lot of finger-pointing and talk about reform, but very little gets done. Here, measures are constantly being taken by the government and individual families to improve conditions. They think the US is not doing their part.
When I was talking with a friend, she pointed out to me that American's tend to say "we did this" instead of "they did this" when referring to the government. For example, I might say, "we had a problem with the Mexican border, so we decided to…" even though I had no direct influence on the decision.
Some people apply the Texas stereotype to all the country. I've been asked a few times if I have a gun, if my family has guns, etc.
We're known for an impossibly expensive university system. Education and health care are two things that are significantly cheaper in France. The US is also looked at as very conservative because we tie for the highest drinking age in the world, ban the purchase tobacco to those under 18 (or 19 in some states), and seem to censor everything.
There is a slight notion that American's aren't too polite. This is partly true, but party cultural. In public, I think Americans have a subconscious idea that since they are the consumers, businesses should accommodate them, not the other way around. Also, if I walked into a room in the United States, waving and saying "hello" would suffice for everyone. In fact, If no one directly addressed me I might not even have to do that. In France it is the opposite. I would have to greet each person individually, be introduced if we hadn't met before, and give la bise. Students never enter or leave a classroom without saying hello and goodbye to their teachers. There are many things like this which aren't important in the US, but would strike a European as impolite.
Truthfully, if you ask someone what the first things are that come to mind when they think of America, they'll probably mention McDo. It fits four stereotypes: overweight, rushed people who don't sit down and eat healthy food as a family. I believe few people eat fast food as often as the french believe, but it's more common than here. And I agree that you're more likely to eat a healthy home-cooked meal at the table with your family in France.
Of course, all these things are generalizations of both cultures, and not everyone thinks or acts this way.
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