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Vigipirate: what constitutes a "travel bag"

Posted by (Seattle, WA) on

Heyas, O Travelers of Great Knowledge,

So apparently Paris is a little jittery right now and many a imposition has been imposed on the visitors of museums under the program name of Vigipirate (which sounds sorta like a roving band of vegan pirates: 'arrrRRRRrr Matey, ye be handing over your broccoli now or ye be parting with your meat-eating life!').

Annnnnyway, according to this program, suitcases, backpacks and day-packs are banned -- what exactly constitutes a "Day Pack"?

Googling "day-pack" returns a plethora of answers, none of which are consistent. I just wanna make sure my much-beloved Pac-Safe man-purse isn't going to get me 86'd from the establishments of arts and sciences before my quirky sense of observational humor accomplishes the same task.

(I can't believe it's only seven days before I'm kicking the well-gnawed bones of less fortunate Icelandair passengers aside and taking a seat for my flight to Paris! It seems like only 193 days ago it was 200 days away!)

As always, merci and thanks,

-- Mike Beebe

Posted by
41 posts

I would imagine that any bag that could conceal a weapon would be searched and probably required to be checked.

If you are unsure, leave it behind when attempting to enter a museum.

Posted by
32212 posts

Mike,

A Daypack tends to be a smaller Backpack, with a smaller capacity just for items that would typically be used while out touring for the day - camera, water, small jacket, some snacks, etc. Whether a particular pack is "too big" will always be at the discretion of the staff at various sites. Given the current security climate, it's probably a good idea not to carry things like that unless you're prepared to check them.

Posted by
3941 posts

Hubby carried his man purse PAC Safe (the metrosafe...I think 250?) with no issues into the d'Orsay and Louvre. And this was last week (god, hard to believe it was only 8 days ago we were in Paris...sigh). And I do recall seeing the vigipirate notice at one of those museums...maybe both...

Posted by
1097 posts

You might just decide it's easier to leave behind the man purse on the days you're going to those high-security places. What are you carrying in that purse? :D

Posted by
449 posts

Ken, Nicole and the others wot wrote me,

Thanks! I'll see what happens at the Picasso museum. Worst case scenario, I end up with more time to spend wandering aimlessly through the Marais!

-- Mike Beebe

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