Armenians have settled in France since the early Middle Ages. Armenian inscriptions said to date back to the Middle Ages have been found in both the cathedral of Bourges and the church of Tarascon.

In the 17th century, an Armenian merchant opened the first café in Paris. A century later, another brought over to France a plant called madder, used to dye clothing. By the dawn of the twentieth century, there were a few thousand merchants, entrepreneurs, and Armenian students residing in France.