short term cell phones in Europe?

We go on vacation to get away from cellphones.
People can email us, however.

The phone needs to be able to accept a gsm sim card and be unlocked. You can buy a used phone or a cheap lower end new phone. A new dumb phone is very cheap. Look on craigslist or just go to your local phone store or a Best Buy.

Kept our phones on airplane mode, which allowed internet but not calls or texts. Used WiFi whenever possible. Which allowed us to use email and Facebook etc. For very rare times when we need to call or text, we activated our AT T for $10 per 24 hour period. Only did so twice.

craig,

There are two options you could look at.....

• buy an inexpensive PAYG phone when you arrive in France. Ask the staff at your hotel where the nearest mobile phone shop is. Be sure to take your Passport as that might be required to register. Also, be sure you're clear on the method of topping up once you've left the country where the phone was purchased.
• buy an inexpensive travel phone from a firm such as Cellular Abroad, iRoam or others. The advantages of this approach are that you'll have a working phone as soon as you step off the plane, it will work in various countries across Europe and you'll be able to use it for future holidays. In this case, a credit card will probably be used for topping up, so you won't have to worry about running out of minutes.

Try to find cheap deals cellphones, anyway that's just for short term period only.