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The UK's new prime minister has said she does not want to start the formal Brexit process until 2017. But the French president has rejected any "pre-negotiations" and said the UK could not access the EU free market without having free movement of people.
Mr Hollande will host Mrs May at a working dinner at the Elysee Palace. It comes after she held talks about Brexit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
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She said a "sensible and orderly departure" from the EU would take time, while Mrs Merkel said both sides wanted the "best result for Britain".
Downing Street said the prime minister would stress that France was "one of our oldest and most important partners, where the depth of our relationship - particularly on security and defence - is very important for both of us".
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said such encounters were currently at a "getting to know you" stage, with EU leaders waiting to see what the UK wants to achieve from the negotiations.
The French president may prove to be a "more awkward customer" for Mrs May than the German chancellor, she added.
Speaking in Dublin, after talks with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Mr Hollande said: "I will meet Theresa May tonight. That will be the opportunity to hear the arguments. What is the interest of delaying? I would like justifications."
In a joint statement with Mr Kenny, he urged rapid Brexit talks said he would speak to Mrs Merkel after his meeting with Mrs May in Paris later.
He said there should be no pre-negotiations before full and formal exit talks and added: "Access to the single market cannot be guaranteed unless free movement of workers is respected."
Pascal Lamy, a former World Trade Organization director general who was also chief of staff to ex-EU Commission president Jacques Delors, also said European leaders wanted to know what Mrs May was looking for.