Back in the 1970s little motorized scooters with pedals (or little pedal scooters with motors, depending on your point of view) were popular in France. They may well have been popular elsewhere in Europe too, but stuck in my memory ever since because I never saw one until I went on a trip to France. They weren't popular in the British Isles.

Oh, I think I know what you mean. We used to have one, a Peugeot. Something like this: http://www.vintagebikeguys.com/images/OurBritBikes/pages/pgo...

Indeed. When you say French, I think this:

http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierracing/images/herse_porteu...