This paper explores the hitherto overlooked influence of France on the archaeological interests and approach of Harry Longueville Jones (1806–70), whose best-known contributions to archaeology centred on Wales. Focusing mainly on the period down to his co-founding of Archaeologia Cambrensis (1846) and the Cambrian Archaeological Association (1847), it analyses Jones’s engagement with both archaeological monuments and heritage measures in France. The discussion assesses the significance of his recording of medieval churches in and around Paris while resident in the city 1835–42, including an unpublished report that he submitted to the Minister of Public Instruction in 1840. Attention is also given to his role as one of the corresponding members for England of the French government’s Comité historique des arts et monuments. Lastly, Jones is placed in the context of other British responses to the institutions established by the July Monarchy to study and safeguard historic monuments in France.