What are the pros and cons to writing the same paper in two languages?
so that the people closer to me can also read it


is one of the best reasons I can think of for doing two versions.

Occasionally I write two versions of a letter, in my role as a bilingual volunteer advocate for a child with special needs.  I've noticed that after writing the letter in language A, and then writing it in language B, I am then able to go back to language A and make some improvements that I am sure would not have occurred to me through the normal single-language editing process.

I would just caution you, if it starts to be more trouble than it's worth, to keep both versions chugging along strongly, don't get frustrated with yourself if you decide not to keep going with the French version.