Got myself a used Stronglight "Marquee Depose" French threaded bottom bracket (cups & spindle) for my 1976 Motobecane Grand record. Put it in with 11 new 1/4 ball bearings on each side and added the crank arms. But I am finding that if I tighten up the left cup sufficient to eliminate the wobble or play about the axis, then it is so tight it starts to bind. Haven't had this problem before. Have I put in too many or the wrong size bearings, or am I just being ham-handed on this one?

Weird -- the bearing size and count do sound correct for a standard BB -- make sure they are seating properly. Check the cups and the spindle for wear.

I assume you checked the bearing surfaces for wear and they looked even and smooth as stated. Was the previous BB the same type of assembly or sealed? What I am getting at is the possiblity of the need to face the BB. The other issue, which you may be fully aware of, is how you tighten the lock ring. This is just like cup and cone on wheel hubs and head sets. Once you tighten the lock nut, the distance changes to either too loose or too tight. If you already know and have experience with this, read the next posting!

I've had that problem if I don't really tighten down the drive-side cup. But I've also found that the tolerance on some cup and cone BBs is really tight between smooth and too tight. You just have to really make micro adjustments (and that often means using a pin tool to hold the NDS cup while tightening down the lockring with the appropriate tool).

+1. The lock ring, like on headsets, changes a simple operation to a dance.

This can be a sign that the bottom bracket needs facing. You'll need to find a shop with a metric thread facer pilot to do the job properly, though. A cartridge bottom bracket shouldn't have a problem, though.

What John said facing... also how much grease did you use?
The lockring is kind of a dance where you don't lead