Sam

I've noticed the recent threads about packpacks and I'm curious: where do most of you carry guidebooks, maps etc? We've always used moneybelts for valuables but a backpack to hold umbrellas, books, etc. (nothing valuable) Is this a good idea for Paris? It seemed to work in other cities.<BR><BR>Also, we plan to buy a museum pass, will having a backpack mean that we will have to wait in a long check line at the Louvre, d'Orsay, etc. even though we skipped the entrance line?

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SD

I have stream lined my day pack a lot. I now have a small day pack that holds a lot...a small guide book, compact umbrella and water bottle and have never had a problem...are you talking about a backpack as in "backpacking"?

sam

I'm not talking about the larger backpacks used for luggage. I'm talking about a "daypack" of the type that a student would use to carry books for high school college, etc.<BR><BR>My daypack has worked well in other cities but I wondered about checking it in museums, whether or not that would be a hassle. Also, I just wondered where fodorites carry their water bottles, umbrellas, etc. There's been a lot of threads about how not to look like a tourist (clothes, athletic shoes, etc.) but it just seemed to me that a daypack would mark you as a tourist no matter what you were wearing. Just curious.

pam

After purchasing a "special" bag with a steel cable in it, I ended up using my jansport bookbag to carry all the items you mentioned. The pocketbook did not distribute the weight very well and felt much heavier than the backpack. Of course, I never put my passport,mpney or credit cards in the backpack and so if someone wanted to take something it wouldn't be something I couldn't easily replace. I wear a neck pouch under clothing for valuables.<BR>Try the Ameribag...very good for weight distribution and for your back.

Lynne

I carried a daypack in Paris for 10 days in February with umbrellas, guidebooks, etc. The Louve would not check the pack, just the umbrellas and jackets, so I had to carry it thru the museam. The D'Orsay checked the pack. The line moved swiftly, but it was not a crowded day.<BR>I had no trouble with the pack on subway or anywhere else for that matter. At the flea market at Clingancourt a vendor suggested that I carry it as a front pack or I would lose it. <BR>Have a fun trip!!<BR>

backpack

I have the same question as the original poster. I don't think his concern is whether or not a museum will check a backpack, but rather will the museum REQUIRE you to check it, thereby making you wait in a line even though you avoided a line because of your museum pass.<BR>I think I got it right...capisce???

StCirq

I used to carry a small leather backpack for all my belongings - I liked the way it distributed the weight of the things I was carrying and the fact that it freed my hands up (I was often traveling with two young kids and hands free were important, but I didn't like the way it got in people's way when I was in tight quarters, like shopping in a department store, or the way I had to wind it off my back and open it and get out my wallet to pay for things). Now that my kids are older and don't need hand-holding, I carry a fairly large rectangular purse that holds everything the backpack used to hold. I find that carrying a purse makes me look more like a *native* and I'm less likely to be targeted as a tourist and therefore am less likely a target of pickpocketers, etc, (in 25+ years of traveling in Europe I've never lost a dime to a pickpocket, though I did lose a breakfast to gypsies once and I've had a couple of near misses). I am one of those who try to " blend in," and I find that carrying a "purse" helps me do that.

Sam

Thanks for the information. We'll continue to use the daypack. The person who responded under backpack([email protected]) had it right. One of my questions was if being forced to check the daypack would negate the line-jumping value of the museum pass.