Sarkozy, who negotiated the six-point peace plan as current president of the European Union, was to receive Rice Thursday afternoon at Bregancon Fort, an official residence on the French Riviera.
They will be joined by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who also travelled to Moscow and Tbilisi to push the fragile EU-backed truce.
Both Washington and Tbilisi have accused Moscow of continuing attacks despite the ceasefire, and Rice warned Russia Wednesday that it faced isolation if it refused to respect the truce.
From France, Rice was to head Friday to Georgia for talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili, aimed at showing Washington's "solidarity" with the former Soviet republic as it seeks support from its new Western allies.
Rice's trip comes a day after US President George W. Bush strongly toughened his stance on the conflict, scolding Moscow for attacking Georgia and warning it had put post-Cold War relations with the West "at risk."
It also marks a US willingness to seize back the diplomatic initiative on the conflict, so far spearheaded by Sarkozy in the name of the European Union.
France is shortly to submit a draft UN Security Council resolution on the Caucasus conflict, incorporating the ceasefire plan, with the French foreign ministry calling Thursday for the council to rapidly adopt the text.
Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux said "a rapid adoption of this resolution at the United Nations will enable a significant consolidation of the ceasefire."
The six-point ceasefire plan includes a commitment not to resort to force, to end hostilities definitively and provide free access for humanitarian aid.
Georgian military forces are to withdraw to their usual bases while Russian military forces are to pull back to the lines held prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
Russian troops and armour rolled into South Ossetia Friday in response to a Georgian bid to regain control of the renegade region which broke from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
The two countries engaged in five days of bitter fighting until a ceasefire was agreed late Tuesday, but new clashes in the Gori region northwest of Tbilisi have underlined the fragility of the agreement.
France has said Sarkozy received a commitment from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to honour the commitments made under the peace plan.
The Georgian government accused Russian forces of launching new attacks Thursday on Gori.
While explosions rocked the strategic city, one of the ceasefire clauses did allow Russian forces to "implement additional security measures" pending agreement on an international peace mechanism.
The French foreign ministry said Thursday it was "verifying" the reports of explosions, reminding both Georgia and Russia that they "have committed to immediately cease hostilities."
Before leaving for France, Rice said reports were "not encouraging" about Russia's respect for the ceasefire, and that violations would "only serve to deepen the isolation into which Russia is moving."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telephoned Rice Wednesday to insist that Moscow was sticking to the peace plan, and "strongly rejected" suggestions to the contrary, his ministry said.