We have a quadband phone with SFR card purchased in Paris and used in France. It has remaining time. Can we use this phone in Milan and other areas of Italy?...
Thanks for your help..

Probably yes, but it depends on who the company providing the card/airtime. If TMobile, Vodaphone, or one the other 4 major providers whose names escape me at the moment, it should work.

The worse case scenario is that it doesn't work and you buy another card in Italy (they call them TIM cards there) which are available virtually on every corner.

It also depends on how long ago you purchased your existing card as sometimes minutes expire if not used within 6 months, I believe.

We have an SFR card...isn't that the company providing the card?...I am confused as you mention Vodaphone?..

Try putting your SFR sim card and switch on. If it logs on to a local network, you know it's active and is enabled for roaming.
If it works in your country (US?), it's almost certain it will in Italy as well, but charges will be steep - something in the order of 1 to 1.50 euro/min to receive or make a call. If you are staying for a couple of weeks or more, it's probably worth buying a local sim card (there are several networks in Italy) - it will be cheaper (no fee to receive calls, for instance) and easier to top up.

Sorry, I misunderstood the meaning of SFR to be another name for a sim or tim card.

I use a quad band gsm cell phone as well and simply buy a card upon arrival and top it up during the trip. Outgoing is usually about .25 (+ or -) per minute and incoming free.