re: Leaving for Paris this week.

The invasion beaches stretch over more than 50 miles, with the American sector about three hours by car from central Paris. There will certainly be commemorations in various places along the landing areas, including at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer and at the Utah Beach museum (just these two are 40 minutes apart by road). But the D-Day attractions/sites are spread out geographically and really do require a car and a full day (or two or three, depending on how in-depth you like to go, and how much time you spend in museums).

I toured this area in the fall with my veteran (and artillery geek) better half; it was tremendously interesting and moving to see Point du Hoc, bloody Utah, and all of the other storied locations. But we did it over multiple days, not just one. (hat tip to poster Alcee Fortier whose posts helped my planning tremendously)

Only you can judge whether a long day of battle sights is a good trade over a day of tasting champagne with your wife. (Or whether you have time to do both!)

I hope the OP brought his floaties to Paris. It's getting deep along the Seine, with the crest not expected until Saturday 1/27. Central section of RER B is closed, a number of Metro stops closed....lower levels of the Louvre closed.
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Get rick Steve’s book, just went in September. don’t do Versailles on a Sunday busiest time to go we made that mistake. But we paid for the guide tour and it was pretty awesome. Also did a river boat cruise one night and it was a lot of fun.

We stayed near there, on Ile St. Louis. It’s a great area. If the weather is good enough for biking, I highly recommend biking around Paris. There are parts along the river where you can bike out of the traffic. You can bike from Notre Dame to the Effiel Tower that way. The place where we rented was on the otherside of the river from where y’all are staying. Nice guy, very helpful and showed us where to go on maps.

If you arrange a day trip to the Normandy Beaches area, maybe you could stay in the Bayeaux area and hit Mont Saint-Michel the next day then head back to Paris...

Hey sorry I just saw this. When friends or family come to visit me, they ask about cabaret (which isn't burlesque). I send them directly to Aux Trois Mailletz. Call them up and set up a reservation, it's very fun. Mildly expensive, but worth it. You'll want to make sure you mention downstairs cabaret. Theres a jazz club on the main floor thats great for beforehand or after.