Why were there so few french operas?

This is not true, there are many famous French operas. Some examples include:

- Carmen by Georges Bizet

- Faust by Charles Gounod

- Manon by Jules Massenet

- Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod

- Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach

- Lakmé by Léo Delibes

- Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy

- Louise by Gustave Charpentier