Carry On Luggage Weight/Personal Item

Greetings
I don't know about Air France, but some airlines certainly will weigh carry-ons. They tend to go by look - if it looks large, they'll make you put it in the size frame and weight it. Also remember that you (or a taller person if you're short like me!) need to get it safely into the overhead without damaging people or luggage.

I should think you could have things in your arms when checking in (security doesn't care about the weight or size of items), so long as it isn't blatantly obvious that you are evading weight limits.

I would probably avoid the cosmetic bag thing because you need to make sure at least one bag will go under the seat in front of you and those spaces can sometimes be very small. The idea of 'personal item' is something small enough to go under the seat. Also you want something for valuables that's easy to carry if the other item has to be gate checked for whatever reason.

Kate

The cosmetic case thingy does fit under the seat (in fact it was the only thing we used to carry on in the "bad ol' days" of packing everything except the kitchen sink!)

As for the liquids & gels, this will be our first 3 week trip in quart sized baggies, but with two of us we've been fine for 14 day trips and still had shampoo and toothpaste left.

Dont over do the personal bag... a normal purse (not sure what that is since im a guy) should be the size of a day-pak or brief case - anything over filled or larger they may look at you funny. Just put the heiviest items in that day-bag sized item - and take the ziplock bag out before since you will have to show it at security (put it in a lunch bag until youre through. Wear your heaviest jacket too - and stick a guidebook or heavy item in that pocket for a bit!

Lufthansa has an 18lb limit - 26 sounds generous. The rollaboard is already probably 10-12lbs empty -vs 3 for a convertable.

Since you're going in April, you will have to wear a jacket. Why not get one with lots on inside security pockets. First, it holds a lot and you can wear it while they are weighing your bag. Second, you can wear it while sightseeing and not have to carry a daypack. (Unless you pack your daypack completely full.)

That was one of my strategies regarding the Rick Steves convertible carry-on backpack. When it came time to check in, I wore it on my back and held my 'regular' backpack in my hand. I don't remember being asked to weigh it when we checked into Air France in Seattle or in Verona.
Before leaving, we weighed our bags on our scale and re-distributed so that we'd both be below the minimum anyhow. But in case their scale was different from ours, we were ready to accommodate.