You are on vacation, leave the phone at home. The hotel staff will make all phone calls for you if you want to do something like confirm a reservation or call your next hotel (in France you are sometimes charged a token fee).
But, if you really want the phone, you can get wifi nearly everywhere and don't need to pay for data plans. You can still use GPS for navigation without data (be sure to download the map first or when you have wifi) and you can still have your phone translate without data (be sure to download the language first or when you have wifi).
Also, be very very careful with Verizon. I've had phones specifically marked by Verizon as being usable in 120+ countries (including the countries that I am in), called Verizon to enable international call service, enabled everything that I thought that I needed at Verizon, and then found out that Verizon still had one other hidden thing to enable so the phone didn't work (I think I once enabled international service but forgot to enable international dialing--why Verizon won't tell you that you need to enable both is beyond me). Or, Verizon just won't have coverage in large cities like you think they should. Or something else just always go wrong with Verizon internationally. That is why I just learned to go without it. A $20 prepaid international phone is far more reliable if you absolutely must be able to call at any time.