Not just in France, and not just in centuries past. I've met women in the United States, England, and Austria who refer to themselves as Mrs. husbands_first_name husbands_last_name.
It's formal. It's not insulting. You can see it commonly in 19th- and early 20th-century literature.
Several of the Christmas cards my wife received this year were addressed that way, plus "and family."
