A new bridge spanning the Seine in Paris has opened to traffic and pedestrians. The Pont Charles de Gaulle stretches from the Quai d’Austerlitz on the left bank to the Quai de la Rapee in the southeastern section of the city, and stands between Pont de Bercy upstream and the Viaduc d’Austerlitz.

This additional passage across the river is part of the huge face lift this part of Paris has undergone in the last decade. The Bercy area on the Right Bank was the first to be remodeled; construction is under way across the river in what has become known as the Paris Rive Gauche, at the center of which stands the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, the library scheduled to open in December.

Reserve before you leave: Visitors to Spain can now make train reservations and buy tickets before leaving home from V.E. Tours, a Spanish company with offices in Miami and a direct computer connection with Renfe, Spain’s national railway.

Tickets are available for any of Renfe’s trains serving 47 cities; for the high-speed AVE train (Alta Velocidad Espanola) that travels between Madrid and Seville in less than two and a half hours, and for long-distance trains that connect Spain with cities in the rest of Europe.

Quotable: “‘Back to the Future?’ They ought to call it ‘Back to the Chiropractor!”’ - overheard at Universal Studios Florida on the “Back to the Future” simulator ride, which hurtles riders through time and space.