Why are Germans and the French considered so vastly different, then?

Are they? I think you'd be hard-pressed to get someone from Malaysia to think of big differences.

Go back a few hundred years (about 1200), and they're the same people! Those things you listed, I could list them for every Bundesland, there's always a difference, but those differences are minuscule in comparison to Russia, a country that has a very different history and origins. While France and Germany have always been in close contact with each other, it wasn't until maybe the 17th century that western europe really became aware of Russia as something to deal with.

Then there's the fact that the early conflicts were mainly against the khanates of the steppe, culminating in the Golden Horde's rule, which lasted about 300 years. At that time, Germany and France were mainly occupied with infighting (in the case of proto-Germany) or the fight against muslims.

The two countries are inextricably linked in their history. Just look at how the frech and german kings circled each other in the matter of the Italian city states.

And that thread winds through, Russia just dealt with very different things historically (up until the Napoleonic wars). And history forms culture. And common history fosters an understanding you don't have with completely new aquaintances.