France was crowned Grand Slam champion in Paris on Saturday night after beating England 12-10.
Three penalty goals from Morgan Parra and a Francois Trinh-Duc dropped goal - all in the first half - were enough to seal victory for Les Bleus.
England was more threatening than at any time in the Six Nations championship and it took the lead with a sixth-minute try from Ben Foden.
But for all the talk of French flair, the Grand Slam was ultimately secured on the back of a defiant defensive performance and a crushingly dominant scrum.
England was the better team in the second half but only had a Jonny Wilkinson penalty goal to show for it - and France held out to seal its ninth Grand Slam and first since 2004.
Les Bleus, the outstanding team in an otherwise mediocre tournament, had been confirmed as champions before kick-off after Scotland's victory over Ireland.
England had arrived in Paris with a new captain, a revamped back division and a determination to spoil the French Grand Slam party. It came mighty close.
Leicester flanker Lewis Moody skippered England after Steve Borthwick aggravated a knee injury in last weekend's drab 15-15 draw with Scotland.
Wilkinson was dropped for only the third time in his career as manager Martin Johnson attempted to inject some vibrancy into England's one-dimensional attacking game.
Toby Flood took over at first five-eighths, Foden was given his first England start at fullback and his Northampton team Chris Ashton made his Test debut on the wing.
France took an early lead with Trinh-Duc's dropped goal but England's new-look back division played with enterprise from the outset.
It took it just six minutes to click and it did so in scintillating fashion with Foden scoring his first Test try to mark an impressive full debut.
Flood whipped the ball to Riki Flutey and Ashton kept his cool under pressure and showed a deft touch to slip the scoring pass out of the tackle and Foden raced over in the corner.
England was playing with tempo and variety. Tim Payne, Dylan Hartley and even Danny Care made key yards around the fringes, the recalled Mike Tindall crashed into the French defence and the roving Cueto was a danger on both wings.
England lost Simon Shaw to what appeared to be another shoulder injury after just 15 minutes, immediately after he had conceded a penalty for diving over the top.
Parra missed that effort but made no mistake from in front of the posts after Flutey was penalised for being off his feet.
England's vibrant start began to fade in the heavy rain as France assumed control of the first period on the back of a vastly superior kicking game - particularly from the wingers Marc Andreu and Alexis Palisson - and with a dominant scrum.
France had set the platform for Trinh-Duc's dropped goal with a charging run from Imanol Harinordoquy after England had been penalised at the set-piece.
England conceded three more scrum penalties in quick succession, with Dan Cole fingered as the main culprit, and Parra needed no second invitation to open France a 12-7 half-time lead.
The visitors had to make changes up front and did so during the interval, with Hartley and Cole replaced by Steve Thompson and David Wilson.
With a fresh start, England was able to inject tempo back into its attacking game and Foden almost latched