Because I'm based in the US I cannot buy XRP on Binance. When I activate my VPN with a IP address from France it appears I can buy it. I have not gone through the verification process with Binance because of course I don't have a French ID.
I think you should stop that. Lots of users account were blocked due to violating this VPN rule and their assets were frozen. Instead of risking your money like this, you should do P2P instead.
What does P2P mean and is there a thread on these forums that will detail how it works?
Peer to peer. It's just a way you can buy XRP or any other digital assets using bank account you have, paypal or credit card. Try the Binance p2p, I believe there are more users using it there. I haven't tried p2p in binance but they are offering the services where users are buying and selling.
This is the page
https://p2p.binance.com/en Check your local currency.
Binance.com is not available for US customer so using Binance p2p is also not possible and you can't find any easy way to trade XRP when you are from US since XRP was banned by SEC.
P2P is actually trading with someone you know where no exchange or anything involves but people may accept BTC more than USD so OP habe to by BTC first before proceeding further.