To be sure, France helped the colonists out of a grudge with England, having lost no less than two recent colonial wars to them, so they teamed up with Spain to work the British naval fleet over before they even hit the high seas; the United States was a convenient tool used to pull England's resources away from other extant contended territories; the U.S. was a tool in a proxy war. Was a win-win for the U.S. as France then was motivated to sell the Louisiana Territory at a steal, being financially stretched thin. They bet that England would pull resources away and direct them to quash the 'rebellion'; but as you say, the Crown made the wise decision and pulled resources to other more-profitable holdings such as plantations in the Carribean, etc.