Seastar

Hi everyone. We have just joined this forum and have already found it very usefull. We have been lucky enough to organize an exchange where we can cruise the canals in Burgandy for a couple of weeks. I will have to be able to access the internet to get email about our business while we are away. I have an Australian Telecom dongle so do I just have to purchase a SIM card from a provider in France and put that in the dongle to access the net on my laptop or is there something that I am missing here? Also I have international roaming on my I Phone but my Australian plan is super expensive if I use it overseas. Should I just get another temporary phone or can I do something with my phone to access a local plan. If I get the internet organized I can use Skype to phone people but I was wondering what happens when someone phones me on my normal mobile number.