Je voudrais louer une Moto

Three days till I step aboard a plane, then another plane, then another plane, and find myself in Lyon, France.
My boyfriend and I have been cramming useful French phrases into our tired brains, and hopefully that will be enough. I have been trying to be as prepared as possible, getting a pet sitter (Thanks Michelle!), getting my passport renewed, arranging things at work to be covered, but I have a new worry, and it's the classic ... money.
I could use my check card from my bank. They only charge 1% interest per withdrawal. But then there is the other bank's fee and a possible fee for exchanging.
I could get a traveler's check card from AAA, which I so judiciously joined just last week, but they charge $3 per transaction, plus the exchange fee and an overall fee of $3, which would add up, especially if you add in the foreign bank's fees.
Or I could go with American Express Traveler's Cheques, which are free to exchange, if you have an AmEx office nearby, otherwise I'm sure you must pay a fee to cash them. I can't tell because AmEx has nothing on their Web site about their fees and when I tried calling their customer service number, no one picked up.
Doesn't exactly build confidence that they'll be there when I need them.
So what should I do? I guess the wisest thing would be to bring some extra cash in Traveler's Cheques and just use my bank card.
Hopefully nobody will steal my bank card. When I called TD Bank up to ask what I should do if that happens, they said just call and cancel it. But they couldn't give me an answer to how I could access my account if I was stuck over there without one.
Not very helpful.
My second concern going overseas is that something will happen at my apartment while I'm away. There has been an increase in drug sales in the area, most in broad daylight and some right outside my apartment. I attribute the increase to the chronic store on the corner fronting as a grocery store.
I've been in there and the selection of goods is paltry and overpriced, and they are always mysteriously shoving things behind the checkout counter when I walk in.
It disgusts me that people who have no residence here and aren't interested in the quality of life think they can just muscle their way in and do whatever they like.
Yesterday I wanted to open the window and tell some of those fuckers to get lost, but my boyfriend was afraid they'd retaliate.
Maybe I'll just wait to deal with them when I get back.