French

Joseph René Bellot (1826-1853)

Explored in the Arctic, reaching the strait named after him, and dying in a search for explorer John Franklin (1852-1853)
Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811)

First French circumnavigation of the world and the first systemmatic observations of longitude (1766-1769)
Étienne Brulé (1592-1632)

Traveled with Samuel de Champlain to the New World and settled at Québec (1608)
Explored the Great Lakes and traveled as far south as Chesapeake Bay (1615-1622)
René Caillié (1799-1838)

Traveled from the mouth of the River Nuñez to the Niger River and to Timbuktu (1827-1828)
Jacques Cartier (1491-1557)

First European to sail up the St. Lawrence River, and also named the site for Montréal (1534)
Paul Belloni du Chaillu (1835-1903)

Explored West Africa (1855-1859)
Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635)

Began the exploration of Canada (1603)
Founded and named Québec (1608)
Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers (????-????)

See: Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Alexandra David-Neel (1868-1969)

First European woman to enter Lhasa, Tibet
Ernest-Marc-Louis de Gonzague Dudart de Lagrée (1823-1868)

Explored Cambodia and the Mekong River (1863)
Daniel Duluth (1636-1710)

Claimed the upper Mississippi region and Lake Superior for France (c1678)
Henri Duveyrier (1840-1892)

Explored the northern Sahara Desert (1859)
Made later exploration trips to the Sahara Desert
Louis Hennepin (1640-1701)

Explored the Great Lakes with La Salle (1678-1679)
Charles Marie de La Condamine (1701-1774)

Traveled the length of the Amazon River from Peru to the Atlantic Ocean (1743)
First scientific account of the Amazon River
René Robert Cavelier La Salle (1643-1687)

Explored the Mississippi down to its mouth and founded Louisiana (1682)
Could not find the river's mouth when he returned with colonists
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes La Vérendrye (1685-1749)

Explored Western Canada
Made a trip on foot and on horseback to the area of the Black Hills in South Dakota (1742-1743)
Jacques Marquette (1637-1675)

Explored the upper lakes of the St. Lawrence River (1666)
With Louis Joliet, charted the course of the Mississippi River (1669)
Jean Nicollet de Bellesborne (c1598-1642)

Explored the Straits of Mackinac and the northern shores of Lake Michigan as far as Green Bay (1634)
First white man to explore the area of the WisconsinRiver to the Illinois River
Auguste Pavie (1847-1925)

Made an extensive survey of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (1881-1895)
Pierre-Esprit Radisson (c1640-1710)

With Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers, explored the area south and west of Lake Superior (1659-1660)
Jean Dumont d'Urville (1780-1842)

Sailed around Cape Horn on a voyage to study terrestrial magnetism, and reached Adélie Land in Antarctica (1838-1840)