Well ... it's not so much opinions, the 1 & 2 is very different in those areas where newbies usually make their first (& perhaps their last) mistakes when they feel confident enough to venture out from the garden ... up on height & away on distance.
The
Mini 1 have a max speed of 8m/s in normal mode whilst the 2 have 10m/s ... that doesn't sound much, but the 2 also automatically move over to the Sport setting territory as it let the pitch down utilize the sport spec even in normal mode which gives the 2 a possibility to fight headwinds up to 16m/s without the pilot need to have the awareness to switch to Sport.
Connection wise the spec for the 1 says 2km in CE mode (which you will be in as you're in France) ... but 6km for the 2 (with a much more reliable Occusync system less prone to interference). This will give you much more time to decide what to do before you loose the connection.
No scale but ... the combo gives you definitely the most bang for the buck as you very likely will buy more batteries anyhow, but if you're on a tight budget ... you go with the
Mini 2 & fill in equipment later on as it hurts less.