Tries from captain Alastair Kellock, Kelly Brown and Sean Lamont were not enough for Scotland to claim a first Six Nations win in Paris as defending champions France triumphed at the Stade de France.
Les Bleus quickly recovered their confidence following their 59-16 mauling by Australia last November to state their ambitions of retaining their title.
France crossed for tries through Maxime Medard, a penalty try, Imanol Harinordoquy and Damien Traille, with Morgan Parra kicking two conversions, Dimitri Yachvili two conversions and a penalty and Francois Trinh-Duc a drop goal.
The visitors were always chasing the game and Kellock and Brown's close-range tries followed by Lamont's late score - all converted by Dan Parks - were ultimately in vain as Scotland suffered defeat on the opening Six Nations weekend for the 11th time in 12 tournaments.
Kellock, who missed the autumn internationals following knee surgery, was one of three personnel changes - along with Nick De Luca and Max Evans - for Scotland ch defeated Samoa.
After three minutes De Luca was hit backwards in midfield and Thierry Dusautoir picked up the loose ball before feeding centre Aurelien Rougerie.
Rougerie kicked through and Medard sprinted outside Nikki Walker to win the race to touchdown. Parra converted.
Trinh-Duc added a simple drop goal from 15 metres after 10 minutes to leave the visitors trailing 10-0.
Scotland responded and traded tries with their hosts, but France always kept in front and notched a deserved win.
