for portugal it's more the most difficult part is to get in, definitely, so i wouldn't compare it to france. you have to have an average of 18.6/20 to get into medicine, apparantly because there are so few places. but their criteria changes every year, e.g. they're thinking of introducing a test for those applying next year, but it's all only suppositions for now.
and yes, definitely the language would be a minus in me attempting to do medicine in france. but the only thing i wanted was to spend some time of the course there, as i really like the country. i don't want to do my degree here because i want to 'open my horizons' and live in a different country, and also because there are much better opportinities in the UK than here. though tht's entirely my choice i guess, because all i need is to get the grades necessary, because as far as the language's concerned, my english is as good as my portuguese.