I'm considering moving to France. What steps do I need to take to do so legally? I'm not necessarily interested in gaining citizenship at this point, just living in France for a year or so.

For what purpose? Basically if you wanted to live there and go to school for a year you could apply for a student visa, if you want to work there you would have to look for a job and a company to sponsor your paperwork.

Without one of those 2 possibilities you wouldn't be allowed to just live there for a year for no reason, unless you have family there who would sponsor you.