At the start of WWII the French fielded the Somua S35, Char B1 (and B1 bis), Renault R35 and FT17, and Hotchkiss H35 and H39 tanks. There were a few others, but not in any significant numbers. There were about 3500 tanks available to the French all told.
Of those the R35 was the most numerous. Unfortunately it was tiny, with a one man turret sporting a very weak short-barreled 37mm gun. The small size precluded the mounting of a radio so the commander had to rely on visual communications to pass or receive orders. That same limitation applied to the majority of the French tanks at the start of the war, with the exception of some (but not all) Char and Somua tanks.
The Char was an obsolete design, intended for a type of warfare that the German Blitzkrieg rendered useless. It mounted a decent 47mm in the turret, but its main punch was the 75mm gun mounted in the hull. That gun was intended for breaching fortress defenses and engaging fixed positions. It had no traverse (left/right movement) and limited elevation. Basically it was aimed by the driver turning the whole tank. It was a powerful gun by the standards of early war armor, but woefully unsuited for engaging moving enemy tanks.
The Somua S35 was actual quite and advanced design. It mounted the same 47mm gun as the Char B1 in the turret, and carried a decent number of rounds. However its utility was reduced by the fact that only the commander could fit in the turret, who also acted as gunner and loader, with rounds being passed to him from the lower hull, same as in the Char tanks. (In fact the one-man turret was the single glaring weakness of all French tanks at the time) The Somua had decent speed, despite a badly underpowered engine. The armor was quite good, making it quite a difficult target for German gunners.
Of the lighter French tanks the Hotchkiss H39 is the only one really worth noting. It carried a good 37mm gun, with the same single-man turret that really cramped its combat efficiency. Still, it was quite a handy little tank that continued to be used by Free French forces until replaced by US tanks late in the war.
The French had some good tanks, and in good numbers. Lack of radios (less than 20% of the tanks that could carry radios actually had them) so severly hampered communications that French tanks were basically on their own once battle was commenced. Single-man turrets meant the commander had to spot targets, engage them, load the gun, and command the tank all at the same time. The impact this had on combat efficiency was severe. Still, they put up a good fight and many only fell to lack of fuel and ammunition. In fact, the Germans were so impressed by certain French tanks that they pressed all they could get their hands on into service with the German army, just like they did with the Czech Mod.38 tank (Pz.38(t)).