Does anyone know if there are lockers in the gares in Paris? I plan on taking several overnight trips and don't want to lug my suitcase along with me.

It would be obviously very helpful if you listed the specfic Paris rail stations.

Gare du Nord. Very tight security with long lines waiting.

Gare Austerlitz. X-ray security but not so busy.

Assume that there are lockers in all of the Paris stations, but things change.

Gare de Lyon - lockers
Gare Montparnasse - lockers
Gare de l'Est - lockers
Gare du Nord - left luggage office
Gare d'Austerlitz - both lockers and left luggage office
Gare de Bercy - nothing
Gare St-Lazare - nothing

If there should happen to be a higher level of security based on intelligence regarding a threat, they all may be closed. Impossible to predict. Be sure you have a Plan B.

All of the locker areas have X-ray screening. I would say that Gare du Nord is the busiest, followed by Gare de Lyon. Gare de l'Est is being completely restructured at the moment to prepare for the new TGV-Est line opening next year, so I don't think it has anything until then, and then it will have the most modern system.

It's Gare de Lyon I'm interested in. Where exactly in the Gare de Lyon are the lockers, and what are they called in French?

Consignes

I checked into the same thing at one time and found the following website:

http://en.parisinfo.com/guide_paris/...d_article=6481

(The website comes up really screwy when I preview it, but I'll try to post this reply anyway....)

(Have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "luggage" - that will take you to the proper screen.)

The name for locker is "consigne automatique" but just like every train station in Europe, the standard pictogram is used to indicate the location.

Thank you. You've all been very helpful.

I'm back from my trip, but didn't use the lockers, even though I located the ones in Gare de Lyon. I decided to leave the bagage at the hotel instead. They will gladly keep your bags in a storeroom for a few days, and don't charge for it.

Four years ago I used the lockers at Gare Du Nord. There were mice running everywhere. They were not afraid of people, but I was definately afraid of them. The man at the gate got a big laugh at my screams.

A note of caution. Some of the lockers use a numeric code which appears on a slip of paper after you pay for the locker. There are thieves who will seek to get the number while you study the paper. The one that apprached us while my back was turned was a woman with a child asking for a handout. Had to rent another locker.