As a French myself, i both agree and disagree with "In French culture, it's considered vulgar/rude/distasteful to talk about money in public". Sure people here might not be willing to tell their friends how much they earn but I've never seen it as an issue to ask for splitting the bill, unless maybe if it's business related or if it's dating, you might look cheap but I can't think of other situations where people would get offended if you ask for splitting the bill —
F. Emin 1 min ago