There are different SIM cards you'd want to get based on if you're a tourist versus if you're an expat. All these require an unlocked phone, so typically you have to call your US phone company to unlock it first, and only phone that work on AT&T and T-Mobile will work. Which is a really good reason not to use Verizon and Sprint, as the phones on those networks only ever work in the US.
Tourist:
We had some friends and family visiting, so we needed a Pay-as-you-go cheap SIM card so they could have Internet (for Google Maps) and be able to call/text us on our French numbers. The major mobile phone companies in France (SFR, Orange, and Bouygues Telecom) all have pre-paid plans available and so you just buy the SIM card. SFR and Orange were near my apartment so I stopped in there. In both stores they had employees who spoke English. However at the SFR store they inexplicably didn't have any SIM cards, while Orange did. Unfortunately I had thought my rooted Android phone was unlocked, but alas was not, and thus I didn't end up getting anything that evening. But my point is that you should be able to walk into any of those stores and they should be able to hook you up.
In the end I ended up ordering the SIM online (which is cheaper, only 1.90€ instead of 10€ in the store) and then a 10€ plan on SFR gets you unlimited calling/texting for 10 days, plus 100MB of Internet. These plans always change so do some research to figure out the best deal if you really want, though I found they all charge about the same.
When doing research, since the websites are all in French, you'll be looking for "carte prépayée" (Pre-paid card) and if you see unlimited calling in "France métropolitiaine" that means the entire country of France in Europe (and not the French owned islands in the Caribbean for example).
If you google "Paris SIM" you'll find a lot of mentions for Lebara but I have no experience with them. But I suppose it's another option to check out, and I believe one of the main selling points if you can order the SIM early. Frankly I plan on trying to sell my French SIM on Craigslist after I get home, so maybe there might be someone doing the same.
Expat:
About a year ago Free (worst Google-able name ever) shook up the French mobile industry by offering unlimited calling, texting, and a ton of Internet for only 20€ a month and with no contract. The other French telcoms had to follow suite, and now there's a lot of options for incredibly cheap no-contract phone plans. The only catch is they require (as far as I know...) a French bank account as they deduct their fee from the checking account each month. A credit card unfortunately doesn't cut it.
Based on recommendations from my co-workers, we went with B&You where 20€ a month gets you unlimited calling and texting to France, the US, and Canada (seriously, just 20€!!) and 3GB of 4G internet. Free (I told you it was a terrible name) offers cheaper plans now starting at 16€ a month, but supposedly gets worse coverage. I can't comment on that personally though.
Once I got the bank account setup, it only took a single day for the SIM card to show up after we ordered it online. Then it was just a matter of popping it into the phone (it comes in standard SIM size, with a cutout option to pop it out for micro-SIM if needed. If you need nano-SIM for iPhone, there's an option when ordering). And ever since then it hasn't been a problem. There's also free WiFi calling if you're overseas and want to call France, and the roaming rates are in line with other carriers (meaning it's expensive, but as long as you don't use data, not incredibly outrageous relative to other companies).
Oh and when you're signing up for B&You, and it asks which French district you were born in, scroll down to the bottom for the "étranger" option.
Also we kept our US number by using a pre-paid Tmobile pay-by-the-day. For $2 a day that you actually use it, you get unlimited calling and texting. Since we use our French phones mostly it's convenient for those times when I would need someone from the US to be able to get ahold of me (thank you Tmobile wifi calling!). Also it keeps your number while we were away by putting $10 credit on it, which lasts 90 days.
Update: Cancelling the phone plan is very easy too once you're leaving France. The B&You website has a FAQ on it, but you can do it all online in your account settings. It does take 10 days to take affect though due to some French law.
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