US cell phones while traveling to France

WA and other apps will work with local charges if you use a portable wifi unit with a local sim card.
Bit of messing around but it works.

I see, I would need to get an unlocked portable wifi unit, probably one doing 3G and 4G. The difficult part would be to get the local sim card since I don't know anything about these in France. Like you said, not that straight forward and still have to fork a few dozen bucks ($100?) at least. Then I probably won't use it again. But I'll keep that in mind if I don't find anything better and we're that desperate about staying connected for 2 weeks.
Thanks!

https://my-webspot.com/rent-pocket-wifi … gkQAvD_BwE

Better than average chance you can buy one at less money and stick your own sim card in it, but the above is an option.
Just have a google and you're likely to find others, maybe cheaper, or even ones for sale from Orange or whoever.

I have no clue what sort of electronics goodies shops they have in the US, but most of the world has places you can buy unlocked MiFi units at a very reasonable price, mostly made in china. I have a small collection of the things but only use one at the moment. They cane free with all sorts of stuff so I just dump them in a drawer and wait until they come in handy. One USB stick modem I have supports calls and SMS from a PC.

I would get your phone unlocked in the USA, then get a Lycamobile SIM card. It's pay as you. Calls to America cost €0.01 cent / €0.07 per min and SMS €0.15. You can also buy bundles with inclusive minutes, just choose what best suits you.

That's the easiest and cheapest way but of course, you will have a new number.

Thank you both for the advices. I'll check these options out. Ideally, we'd like to keep our numbers for family and business calls during our trip to Europe.