In France you will be lucky with one of those kind of aerials, Honestly the TV transmissions are pretty weak here as France has a lot of the transmission towers that are just smallish satellite to ground relay stations. Look at the houses around you and it will give an indication as what you need and ask.

But if you click THIS LINK and put in your postcode it will show you where your nearest transmitter is and that will give an idea which area to poke your finger whilst touching the aerial but unless you happen to be on top of the transmitter you will probably need an exterior aerial. The analogue signals were switched off at the end of 2011.

Thanks so much for your help. Looks like the transmitter is about a mile away. We have a three storey townhouse, so the indoor aerial might not be brilliant, because all the buildings around are townhouses. I'm not sure we are going to go to the expense of getting an external one fitted for the amount we will use the house for the time being (until we can contemplate a full time move). However, I've found a reasonably priced small digital tv sold by one of the big supermarkets, so I will get that when we go over next because at the very least I can hook up my external drive and play dvds....and with a bit of luck will be able to get my fix of The Voice on TF1 when I'm over there.