the franc is no longer used. France and Belgium use the euro now.

the best thing in my opinion would be to convert an amount of dollers to euro's when you leave, and go the the bank on your first day of arival and switch to the countries currency.

the dollar isnt stable enough atm to do this. (this could change in the near future though)

The easiest and least expensive way to do it is to use ATMs unless you are traveling to the few areas where they are not common. You can check for ATM locations at the website for your ATM network.

By using ATMs, you get a better exchange rate than you will with cash or travelers checks. Plus, they're open 24 hours, unlike banks and money changers. Just call your bank before you go and let them know that you'll be traveling in Europe. Otherwise, they may think that your card has been stolen due to the unusual activity and cut it off. You'll have no problems as long as you let them know.

I never carry travelers checks to Europe anymore.