Euro pre-loaded bank card

On the "going into a bank and buying" part. Not so shure about that. In Nice, I went into a back so that I could break a 500Euro note. Did not even get to that part. The teller asked if I were a member of the bank. I said no. She said she could not help me and closed her window. SOOO, might want to reconsider the bank part.

Not really sure. Why not use yours? The fees associated with peloads are horrendous. Now I see your point about gas-stations,etc. If you do buy one, be sure it does not expire and save it for use during your next trip. Or, at the airport, coming home, spend it out.

Everything I read says the gas stations (un-manned) and toll booths won't take American credit cards. Here, I can walk into any big box, or chain grocery and purchase a Visa card and loaded with as much $ as I want. Is there such a thing in France?

I don't know about France, but in Germany there is something known as a "Geldkarte" (www.geldkarte.de). You buy it from banks and can preload it with cash from an ATM. Other than the currency exchange fee from the ATM, it is inexpensive to use (0.3%). It's a chip and PIN card and taken by many places, including vending machines, parking garages, and German Rail. MVV (Munich metro) even gives a discount of about 0.4% when you use the Geldkarte for single trip tickets. The downside is it only holds €200. Most banks issue them for free to account holders. Non customers might have to pay ~€5 for the card. Surely the French have something similar.

Don't know about banks or post offices, but you can buy euro-denominated prepaid debit Mastercards at any Travelex location. They have 10 locations in Paris: http://www.travelex.com/us/locations/branchList.asp?lang=ENG

Thank you, Tom. That is useful info. I also just went to the VisaEurope site and found out I can get a prepaid Travel Visa card at many banks in France. So I will get my cash from an ATM and walk in a bank and buy a prepaid card to use on the road. These are chip and pin cards.

If it's Travelex, figure on about 7% for currency exchange.

There will certainly be fees, but if Dede uses euros to buy a euro-denominated card, there won't be any currency exchange.

There will be fees for setting up the card and currency exchange fees for the initial loading (and any subsequent loads). There may also be a fee for cashing out the remaining balance, so make sure you spend it instead.