ÌìÃÀÂ鶹

Hello you can use the text plus application Which works with internet credit otherwise I am French I subscribe to SFR a package for 200 mo for 2 € per month otherwise 100 giga at 16 € per month

Getting a phone sim if you are not French is from the Tabac and you have to use it and top it up or lose the #.  And that requires cash or a debit card and I think French ID. If the boyfriend is French he can handle getting a number but it will be in his name but it will be yours. I was not able to have a French phone number from a French phone company without a French ID and Bank Iban #. After 7 yrs the phone and everything else is still in my wife's name. The US phone is expensive to use in France. I switched my US Phone to T Mobile and have taken an $85.00 per month plan that gives unlimited data in Europe which makes the texts and push notices work for no extra charge, and it is faster than Orange. But phone calls are still expensive. ATT has plans but they are really expensive. And they decided every once in a while I was watching movies and charging 100s a month which was not true. And they will not hear any complaints. I would leave the US phone in the house connected to wifi and cell data off and the phone # forwarded to Majic Jack, which should have protected me from the charges. With ATT that did not always work. So read the rules carefully.
My best workaround is "Magic Jack".  And Forwarding all our US numbers to it.
With T Mobile it has worked. And since both phones are APPLE and on one Apple account, they share data so I do not need to carry the US phone but it has to stay connected to the internet. And the battery charged. And when it stops receiving data and text I have to go to the upstairs window to get a cell signal in the house (rock) It mostly happens when trying to text a photo to the US. What's APP. For anything big. But that may be because we live out in the country. 

MagicJack


I use the Magic Jack phone app which works as data on my French phone to get US calls and can call the US with the app on the french phone. And I can call out or rec calls and it takes messages. It is like having a 2 line phone. In low data areas, it can drop.
You get a new number or use your US number and a little box that you can connect to the internet by ethernet cable or a USB on your computer. And it will ring a phone or the computer and the Phone APP.  And you can call toll-free to the US from anywhere that you can get internet by cell or wifi. And it shows that you are calling from the US. Which helps sometimes like the number is a known number to my US bank.
I also forward all my French numbers to another internet service when I am in the US. Two homes in two countries are complicated.
One more trick you will need a French Google and Apple Account to download French-only apps. You change the app store in setup back and forth as needed.  Good Luck with your move. There are many things to learn. It is good for the brain even if sometimes maddening. Also, be careful about working remotely in the US. The money can not come to France.
John

You will want to have a French cell phone number for a variety of things, such as confirming delivery of a package, tradespeople who often communicate via SMS, doctor appointments, etc. I kept my American cell phone for several years when I first moved here and just toggled between different sim cards. Another option is to get a Google voice number the next time you return to the US, port your US cell phone number to your Google voice account; and then use that when you return to France; you have to be in the US to do it though. If that is not possible and you want a US number but not continue to pay for a 2nd cell phone, you cal get a VOIP number for things like texts and a US number with companies like TextPlus.

One of the problems with phones for two countries is that my U.S. contacts just can not deal with a non-U.S. Phone number layout and to have figure out which country I am in.  And I found the same thing with the french People they wish to have only one number and it is harder. When I am not in France I have a Virtual French Number over VoIP to a box that connect to my home network on the us side and when I leave France I forward my cell phone to the land line and the land line to the Virtual French Number over  VoIP. And the French people can call us with the French number. But texts do not work so they email to my &_(a @orange.fr  email.  Whats App will cross systems but then the people do not recognize the phone number if I use the wrong phone. Because the APP on the phone allows one sending number per phone and APP.