Top end French cuisine is pricey. But, you can get great Italian food for a song, in Italy. It tends to be more "basic", in a good way. French cuisine can take a lot of hours of preparation, multiple courses etc.
The best meal I ever had was lunch in some small town in Champagne, it was attached to a motel that didn't look like much. The menus didn't have pricing except the one my friend got (we were four). It probably took four hours. After eating we moved to another room with plants all about for cheese, and then to another room for coffee etc. I have no idea what the bill was. Fortunately.
The second best was at a place near Beaune, Ermitage de Corton.
https://www.ermitagecorton.com/en/ I do know how much that was. I think the third best was in Chablis this February, it was Sunday and nothing was open, except this place again attached to a motel. I ordered a Premier Grand Cru there for 74 euros.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1079400-d1220562-Reviews-Hostellerie_des_Clos-Chablis_Yonne_Bourgogne_Franche_Comte.htmlThe neat thing is that restaurants in hotels can be superb, and often are (outside Paris), not tres expensive. Here in the US, dining in your motel or hotel is often not a good idea. It's a different philosophy of course.
https://en.domaine-de-bayeutwitter.com/We stayed three nights at this place in Bayeux. The first night we were tired after exploring Normandy, so I said we'd just eat there. It was so good we dined there the next three nights. That is a fantastic place to stay if you want to visit the Omaha beach area, about 100 euros a night.
And there was a place near Bordeaux that was superb, and another place in Lourdes that we also dined three nights in a row, which we rarely do.
We somehow missed great good in Barcelona.