Current info on cell phone rental?

How about just getting a hubby a smart phone and kill 2 birds with 1 stone??

Don't waste money on a rental. Stop by a cell shop and buy a cheap PAYG phone, which you can use on future trips or sell after your trip is over. That will provide talk & text capability, which should be adequate.

One point to clarify though. Will you be roaming with your home cell network? If that's the case, your hubby will be making a long distance call to the U.S. each time he wants to talk to you. Texts will be the cheapest option. If you call him, it will be a local call since he will have a French phone number.

Go to an Orange boutique and get the cheapest phone available. It will probably have a photo option, SMS and calling options. Normally under 30 EU.
Then you can top it up using the Mobicarte.

You can sell the phone back to the Orange boutique after you've finished with it.

Print out the page or pages you are interested in to make sure you get what you want.
You will need to bring your actual passport and the address of your hotel.

Here is the information - use Google to translate.
/boutique.orange.fr/mobile/offres-prepayees

Thank you for the replies. We leave in six days, so it will probably be easier to just rent one over there. He likely won't even need it.

I think, as others have suggested, that you will find rental options declining and expensive, relatively speaking. Rental places likely are only present in airports at premium prices, whereas at any cell store you can get a cheap phone and service for less.

Before I traveled with a smart phone, I picked up a basic phone when I got to Europe, mainly to call ahead and book lodging. I don't see why you would rent a phone? Buying a basic phone and SIM card with minutes and texting costs only about 25 euro (you can add extra minutes), I doubt renting a phone would be cheaper.

You should consider a local SIM card for your phone too (but it has to be unlocked by your provider).