Belief in corpses returning from their graves is largely absent in France. But belief in the werewolf (loups garou) was prevalent in many parts of France during the Middle Ages. However, in some areas like the province of Normandy, the two can combine.
This Norman lore is described on pages 107-108 in The Book of Werewolves by Sabine Baring Gould (first published in 1865, most recently reprinted by Studio Editions, Ltd., in 1995).
According to this, a werewolf is sometimes the revenant of person who died and who was damned for his sins. After being buried, the corpse eats its way through its burial shroud and begins to howl. Then the earth above the grave begins to up heave. The revenant emerges from the earth in the form of a wolf exhaling fetid breath and surrounded by a phosphorescent glare.
