I think you're expecting "French cooking" to deliver so sort of focused cuisine, distinct from all others, and easy to spot wherever you might see it. But a large nation is just too big to have that. In fact, it's more unlikely than not for any region of any large nation to produce what you're expecting. Efficient transport and communication has provided almost all people with options far beyond the regional traditions that were very often simply making the best of limited resources, even if some of them are very good indeed. For simple examples, in in the 1980's, the prize for best foreign food restaurant in Paris went to a Tex-Mex place. And in the 1960's, iced tea, ubiquitous in the Southern US, was such an unknown in the Northeast US that my aunt had to ask for hot tea, ice, and water, and the whole place gathered to watch her make iced tea.
Each region of Italy has distinct practices (and it's not all pasta - rice dominates in some regions), while all know of, make, and eat the same things available throughout Europe. You might find cassoulet a big deal around Carcasonne in France, just as you find specific dishes in New Orleans or Jamaica of any other place with a distinct cooking style. But you can't characterize any nation's cooking except in some very broad principles, and that often doesn't represent the best of that nation. And it's easy to make serious errors. "Mexican food" is often thought of as in terms of US versions of "Mexican." Mostly, it's not even "Mexican," as the dishes arose and are typical of Texas or California or New Mexico, rather than Mexico itself. (Real Mexican cooking is among the most sophisticated in the world.) Even vastly farther from the truth is western "Chinese."
There are, however, some principles that apply in French food. One is an emphasis on freshness. It takes me a while to get over the shock and disgust of the typical American produce section when I come back from France. Much of what we buy would be thrown out as spoiled in France. And if a fisherman out of Nice doesn't sell some of his catch the same day, it can't be sold, and the police - not the "food police" but the regular criminal police - will enforce it. There is also a much different attitude toward meals and the time taken to enjoy them. And that tends to translate into greater care in preparation. I will agree that French cooking has been so often represented as a sort of international gold standard that it's not unnatural to go in expecting the whole country to sit down three times a day to a unique array of meals, all very different from other nations. But that's not true of many places on Earth, and, again, the places where it's true are generally those with little choice.
So, what's the big deal with French food? For a small nation, a remarkable range of foods and a willingness to do wonderful things with almost everything edible. But, exactly like anywhere else, you have to actively seek out really good food, and you have to seek harder for really good food unique to the region. And, like in the US, you're not going to find it every day at the average urban family table.
It's also true that, if you are looking for what you expected to be especially refined cooking, you no longer need to be in France. The same forces that have shrunk the globe have made it possible to find restaurant cooking to a nicely refined French standard in most large cities in the US and elsewhere. But, while that's true, the fundamental difference in the relationship with food means you very rarely find in the US the amazing performances found in so many tiny and very rural French eateries.
Also remember that the French reputation dates back (not so long ago) to when you almost had to go to France for anything like it, and absolutely had to go if you wanted the best. The ready availability of a wide range of international foods or even interregional foods is a very recent phenomenon, one that you won't realize unless you're maybe 50 or older. Of course, if we really want to go way back, the Italian Medici chefs taught the French to cook, so maybe it's not surprising that Italian cooking meets more of your expectations.