I suspect that quoting Villon in France is like quoting Shakespeare in England, or Pushkin in Russia, or Goethe in Germany, etc. It's likely something you've read (and maybe learned by heart) at school.
Not really, maybe it was the case 50 years ago (I don't know). Now I'd say the authors that are the most well known in France are Victor Hugo, Molière (we say that french is Molière's tongue), Voltaire and La Fontaine (every student has to learn some of his fable), maybe Baudelaire.
But then again, even tho most french people heard/learned about them, few could quote one of those author.
As for an equivalent of Shakespeare, Pushkin, Goethe or Dante, we don't have any author stamped "best French author", it's a matter of personal opinion I guess. I'd say maybe Proust, but not a lot of people read him. (There is a saying that half the people who say they read Proust, did not).
