Subject: Re: Back to traveling!
No specific plans for Paris yet, other than to enjoy every single moment.

We leave in two days. Getting excited! We bought tickets (online, very simple to do) to the Louvre and to Musee d'Orsay for our first week in Paris. Buying in advance allows you to skip the (long) lines.

We also plan to buy a Navigo Easy pass for each of us, to use on city public transport. These are like the plastic passes in use in many US cities that you load up and swipe for metro and bus rides. There's another version of the pass that includes RER rides from/to the airports, Disney, etc., but the extra cost and hassle (you need to provide a passport-sized photo and wait in line to buy one) don't make it worthwhile for us. It's also somewhat goofy in that it's good for one week but the week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday regardless of the day on which you buy it.

The annual Fete du Pain (bread festival) will be happening in the square in front of Notre Dame the week we arrive, so we will surely be there! https://www.sortiraparis.com/e...

Lastly, we watched a documentary on the history of Bruges (Belgium) the other night, and we'll probably do an overnight trip to there. Looks fascinating. Bruges is about a 2.5 hour train ride from Gare du Nord, changing in Brussels, and Gare du Nord is a 15-minute walk from where we'll be staying in Paris.