Darn. This may be too late, but 'I' think that $100 is too much for you to pay to have your OTHER bike brought up to speed ... particularly, if you can do some of your own hands-on work.
Though not always the most economical place to buy things, tires, tube & grips shouldn't cost that much at a place like WalMart/KMart/wherever.
The REST mostly involves washing the bike off, removing rust from any "chrome" with a BRILLO pad, and adding some 3-in-1/("household") oil to the areas which need to be lubed.
It's not that you shouldn't service it and use it, but $100 is probably too much to pay ...
So, if you haven't brought your 1spd bike in yet, don't!
Particularly, since you can buy a 1spd "beach cruiser" from WalMart OR KMart for under $100.
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As far as your Volkscycle ...
If you are more concerned with function than appearance at this point in time, then you can adjust your handlebars to what I used to refer to as "ghetto-style" ...
Rotate your handlebars 120º-to-180º UPWARD as you may-or-may-not have seen if you've ever driven through an "urban" area ... find the position which allows you to most easily use the brake levers and you're good to go! Time required == two to ten minutes.
As far as French parts, I think your shop is making too big a deal out of it ... 99% of the time, only the fork's headset threads, stem & BB threads are "peculiar" AND all other parts can be accessed from the pool of parts used on
other bikes.