This paper presents an anisotropic tomography study beneath France. Travel times of Pn waves were inverted in order to simultaneously retrieve lateral variations of both seismic velocity and seismic anisotropy within the subcrustal lithosphere. The parameterization scheme uses a classical approach. The subcrustal lithosphere is modeled using a two-dimensional horizontal grid of nonoverlapping cells (0.5¿¿0.5¿), each cell being characterized by an average slowness (the isotropic term of slowness) and an azimuthal anisotropy term. The velocity and anisotropy perturbation amplitudes do not exceed 2% in the Paris Basin and in the Aquitaine Basin. More significant perturbations can be observed in the tectonically active regions. The images of the modeled subcrustal lithosphere emphasize the not recently reactivated areas of the Hercynian Range by high velocities: +2 to +5% from the Armorican Massif to the west part of the Massif Central and from the northeast Massif Central to the Vosges Mountains and Black Forest Mountains regions. These areas are also characterized by an anisotropy of 2--5% with the fast directions parallel to the Hercynian structures. Low velocities (-2 to -4%) are observed in the Neogene volcanic areas of the Massif Central which confirm the results obtained from a short-wavelength teleseismic tomography. These low velocities are most probably caused by high temperatures. Another low-velocity region (-3 to -4%) roughly follows the Alpine belt and is interpreted as the image of the crustal root of the range. In the inner part of the Alps, fast Pn directions lie perpendicular to the belt (with an anisotropy amplitude of ~3%), while, in the outer part, they are parallel to the range (with amplitudes ranging from 3 to 5% to the east and from 2 to 3% to the west). The anisotropy feature of the Pyrenean Range follows a simple pattern: One observes high amplitudes (up to 5%) and a fast direction which is parallel with the strike of the range. The observations show seismic anisotropy for most of the tectonically active zones across France (recently formed structural units and old Hercynian structures as well), and the amplitudes reach the same order as the amplitudes of the velocity perturbations. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union