We were taught Parisien French in school. Although written French is the same around the world, spoken is not. Quebecois has a harsher sound, and is more clipped ("pas de" is always pronounced "pawd"). You need to live in Quebec for a while to be able to understand their French.

It's also a cultural thing. Quebecers say "my English is better than your French, so we'll speak English". In France, they're quite happy to put up with broken French because at least you're making the attempt.

The great thing about having French as your first language is that English spoken with a French accent is pleasant to the ears. French spoken with an English accent is not.