Logistics on Paris museums... bags

museums don't like backpacks for obvious reasons. If you use a small daypack carry it over one shoulder like a purse and you are probably good except at small places where they worry about people banging into things.

If you are a woman or your travel partner is, women are less likely to be hassled about bags than men as women carry purses normally. I have sometimes carried our day pack and had no problem whereas my husband would be asked to check it. But wearing a backpack on your back is most likely to trigger security with a bag as big as yours.

Slightly off topic, but at the start of a tour in a small museum I was trying to be a responsible tourist, so I asked the guide if I needed to check my backpack. I raised my hand and began with "sorry I don't speak..." but without listening she snapped "I cannot give the tour in English!"

I was too embarrassed to go on and say "that wasn't my question." I just figured if my backpack (a small day pack) was a problem, she or one of the guards would have told me to check it.

I do carry it frontwise when I'm inside a museum or a shop, partly to avoid bumping into things behind me and partly to reduce the pickpocket risk.

The Louver had a very nice locker room (by gender) just before covid. I can't imagine it would have changed. There were nice big (and secure) lockers iable to accomodate a Jo Totes shoulder style camera bag (equivallent to a hugely oversided purse). I also was able to put in my jacket and a few other items. While I can't gaurentee it, I'm betting that your think tank bag would also fit. At that time, security was not an issue at any point. Once in "the wing", you can't leave to go grab something out of the locker and then return into said "wing", so plan accordingly to visit your locker between wings, if needed.

I did lock it up where I was able to (Fountainblueau deffinatly comes to mind) and just took 1 body and lens around with me. The one thing I would check is, can you easily get back to the locker before closing time, or what have you. I recall I didn't lock it up in 1 or 2 places because I didn't think I'd be able to get back to the space easily.

I'm unable to comment about the Orsay until my visit in late May but will try to remember to check back and see if anyone else has answered.

The Louvre luggage check is self check lockers and is certainly not 'by gender' -- we have been there every year for the last 25 and don't remember them ever having left luggage by gender.

Just got back from the trip...

The bag situation isn't really an issue as long as it isn't too large (by that I mean like a big backpack). Nobody looked twice at my camera bag other than to check it for bombs or whatever, but they were doing that with all bags.

At some museums, I saw a specific size maximum that was posted, but nobody was bothering to filter bags in that way so there was no challenge for my modestly-sized bag, even though technically, it may have been slightly larger than the limits I saw posted.