somehow I have a jar with several hundred 1 and 2 euro coins that I collected over the years after returning from Europe.

can I use them on an upcoming trip to France? do most places accept payment using coins? (for example, to pay a restaurant bill with 50 1-euro coins?) Or are there places that I can just dump all the coins and exchange for paper euro money? (banks, or Coinstar machines like we have here in the US)

Thanks1