After an elaborate pre-match ceremony, featuring riders on horseback, pyro and laser projections, the two teams served up a superb, see-sawing game which would have graced any era of their 120-year rivalry.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey, France’s warp-speed wing, burned England twice in the opening 12 minutes with trademark tries.
The 22-year-old, whose has now scored in 10 successive Six Nations matches, raced on to well-weighted kicks from Ramos and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert as England’s backline were lured forward and backfield space opened up.
England crossed between those twin scores, as Fin Smith and Elliot Daly, the pair who combined for the winning try at Twickenham last year, put Tom Roebuck away into the corner.
Even early on it was clear there was an intensity and guile to England’s running lines, while the forwards met a heavyweight France pack on the front foot.
After Cadan Murley had pounced on a backfield spill by Theo Attissogbe to reduce the hosts’ lead to 14-10, Ollie Chessum powered over after a 13-man 20-metre driving maul had rumbled downfield.
A rendition of Swing Low Sweet Chariot went up from a section of England fans as the scoreboard ticked level at 17-17 and the two teams continued to trade scores with near basketball frequency.
Alex Coles trundled over on the blind side to put England ahead, while a Fin Smith penalty pushed the visitors 10 points clear at 27-17.
Then, with the first-half clock in the red, came two big calls.
The hosts opted to kick for the corner and, from the resulting line-out, referee Nika Amashukeli ruled Ellis Genge had dragged down the French maul, dispatching the prop to the sin bin and awarding a penalty try.
Poor discipline has pockmarked England’s campaign, with only the Italy side of 2002 accumulating more cards in a single Six Nations campaign.
England’s coaching staff were exercised by the decision as they headed back to the dressing room and the start of the second half proved why.
With Genge off the pitch and England down to 14, France made hay.
Bielle-Biarrey completed his hat-trick 90 seconds after the restart, before France’s pack won a penalty at the first Genge-less scrum. Attisogbe cruised in as the powerplay continued and France went 38-27 clear.
It seemed then that the contest was heading away from England, but resilience and opportunism reeled it in.
Chessum intercepted a Jalibert pass and romped in from range and, with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack van Poortvliet bringing energy off the bench, fellow replacement Marcus Smith scooted around Demba Bamba to put England back in front at 39-38 up with 25 minutes left.
Bielle-Biarrey added his fourth try of the match and ninth of the championship, but the twists and turns kept coming.
Bamba was sent to the bin and Freeman strolled in to stun the Stade de France into silence.
With two minutes left, Chessum claimed the restart, Van Poortvliet kicked long, but Jalibert summoned one more moment of magic, slicing through the chase to pin England back.
A high tackle call from the referee, conspicuous by the absence of a replay on the big screens, then allowed Ramos to step up and take glory with the final kick.
