Since I’m not going to get to go to a lot of museums I’m sort of comforting myself w doing some history deep dives so I can giggle on walks and go “there used to be a charnel house here” while passing upscale stores. (Rue des Innocents)

In Paris, my must-dos were going to be the Conciergerie, Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, the Cluny Museum, & Arène de Lutèce. & ofc the Eiffel Tower. Probably Les Invalides for my military-interested husband. Also planning to do walks in Montmartre / Marais. I’ve got an extensive B list, tho.

Our side trips are probably going to be to the Normandy Beaches & Versailles.

I hadn’t actually thought about the possibility of striking out on my own, TBH! Something to think about…

Catering to the tastes of my travel companions, this trip will probably be centered on outdoor walks. I’m okay w that, though, since I got to see most of the museums I wanted to see the last time I was there (last time I hit the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musées Picasso & Rodin).

We’ve actually already booked a hotel in St Germain, so quite close to the Latin Quarter. My kid and husband are pretty museum-averse, unfortunately, so I doubt that I’ll get a chance to see l’Orangerie this trip… Catacombs were on the tentative itinerary, though.

At some point when I am done w my readings I will make a Google map hitting the high points, though. (Already have a partial one for a Rome trip that never actually happened).

I was thinking about making a Google map of all of the different historical prostitution centers in Paris, but it ended up being like half of the city…

I am not capable of just taking a vacation. I have to exhaustively research the destinations so that I can tell my kid where the leper colonies and the massacres were, such that he’s like “Oh my God, mom, I DON’T CARE!”

“The Seven Ages of Paris” & “Paris- The Secret History” by Andrew Hussey are great books with a lot of granular, street-level detail of “what happened where,” going back 2 millennia. Also, Ina Caro’s “Paris to the Past,” (tho she covers some areas not IN Paris but reachable in a day trip by train).

Just screaming at my phone right now, like, “DON’T DO THAT!!!!!”

If possible, I see them covering up the death briefly, pardoning everyone using his autopen, then revealing his death. Pardons would be his “last act” before dying.

Mind-Flayingly Good Bouillon.

Incomprehensibly delicious bouillon.