1. The Gendarmerie is much more respected than the Police Nationale.
2. The Gendarmerie is mostly in charge of the countryside, and therefore it covers most of the French territory. However, you can find some gendarmes in the cities too. For example, the gendarmerie mobile is often sent to deal with dangerous or violent situations. Activists and rioters are usually much more affraid of the mobile than of their police counterpart, the CRS.
3. Unlike the Police, the gendarmes are not allowed to set up professional unions. Thus, they have harder working conditions, but they are also less influenced by politics. This can partly explain why people like them more.
4. As a military force, the Gendarmerie could possibly intervene in foreign countries as it used to do a long time ago. It has been discussed to send the Gendarmerie in Mali, as it has some experience in maintaining order in urban areas.
5. Some special units of the Gendarmerie have worldwide fame: the GIGN and the Garde Républicaine.