passports

I have used a photo copy for doing the VAT refund. The only other time I needed an ID in Paris they accepted my drivers license

A copy has no validity.
It's simple to replace a passport with no evidence of who you are.
A passport left elsewhere can be forgotten.
You'll probably never be asked for your passport during the daily course of events.

The extreme immediate need for a passport would be in the case of having to leave the area without having to return to a hotel.

I never carry my passport around in last 40 years.. a copy will do .. and I use my DL as collateral at Louvre and Orsay for the audio guides.. they ask for your passport but no way do I like leaving it there.. at the Louvre they just shove in what looks like a recipe index card holder. no thanks.. If I loose my DL its 25 bucks to replace it and its loss does not affect my trip.. if I lose my passport bigger hassle. I have never left anything behind in a hotel safe.. suppose some are that absent minded .. I simply am not.

Sorry it is wishful thinking re sandals.. it may be ok weather... but really.. its not worth packing them and shoes..

I figure if I am asked for papers, the least of my worries is going to be that it is back at the apartment or in the hotel safe. I only carry the passport when I will be doing banking, or when traveling overnight away from my base. The rest of the time I carry a copy. I have been doing European travel for the last 55 years and have never once been asked for my passport except in circumstances where it is required e.g. banking, border crossings, boarding planes.

I am a white woman; if I were a African man I would probably rethink this or if I were a member of other groups that might be more likely to get caught up in immigration dragnets.

Carol,

I bring a copy of my passport for any emergencies for ME, not anyone else.

As far as surrendering my passport to some foreign person - over my dead body!

at one place i was asked for my passport as a "security deposit" for a museum recording guide. when i told them, no way, they told me a "drivers license" was acceptable.

do what you feel comfortable with doing.

happy trails.

I fund out the hard way last August in Spain that you also have to show your passport to buy a SIM card for your phone.

My passport copy was accepted when buying a sim card in Paris; they need the passport data. It is quite possible that the law is that you have to show the actual passport, so this like banking is another situation in which carrying it to the store is probably prudent.