England scored three tries as they became the first side to win a Six Nations game in Paris since 2008.
England enjoyed a dream start, Manu Tuilagi steaming onto Owen Farrell's offload to score before Ben Morgan's charge saw Ben Foden grab a second try.
But indiscipline allowed France three penalties - Lionel Beauxis two, Julien Dupuy one - to trail 14-9 at half-time.
Farrell's penalty made it 17-9 before France hit back, but Tom Croft's try with nine minutes left proved enough.
That made it 24-15 after Farrell's conversion, but Wesley Fofana's fourth try in four games, converted by Morgan Parra set up a nailbiting finale.
The French created the platform for a winning drop-goal, but replacement Francois Trinh-Duc's kick fell under the crossbar.
It means England have won three away games for the first time in Six Nations history, while Wales are now strong favourites to take the Championship.
England would need to beat Ireland comfortably and Wales lose at home to France by a large margin next Saturday to deny the Welsh the title.
France : 15-Clement Poitrenaud, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Julien Malzieu, 10-Lionel Beauxis, 9-Julien Dupuy; 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 3-Nicolas Mas, 4-Pascal Pape, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 7-Julien Bonnaire, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy.
Replacements: 16-William Servat (for Szarzewski, 50) 17-Vincent Debaty (for Poux, 65, Poux for Mas, 75), 18-Lionel Nallet (for Maestri, 55), 19-Louis Picamoles (for Bonnaire, 69), 20-Morgan Parra (for Dupuy, 50), 21-Francois Trinh-Duc (for Beauxis, 74), 22-Maxime Mermoz (for Clerc, 37)
England : 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Manu Tuilagi, 12-Brad Barritt, 11-Charlie Sharples, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Lee Dickson; 1-Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Geoff Parling, 6-Tom Croft, 7-Chris Robshaw, 8-Ben Morgan
Replacements: 16-Rob Webber (for Dowson, 74), 17-Matt Stevens (for Cole, 69), 18-Tom Palmer (for Botha, 56), 19-Phil Dowson (for Morgan, 63), 20-Ben Youngs, 21-Charlie Hodgson, 22-Mike Brown
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Alain Rolland (France)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), John Lacey (Ireland)
TV: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
