Bonjour! It's day 3 in Paris and much has happened. Turns out our "hotel" isn't exactly as luxurious as we had all hoped. Our room is the size of a walk-in closet and our bathroom is smaller than the average American shower. We are literally living in the 'hood'. But thankfully all we do is sleep there...we wake up early and come back late so it's not too terrible. The first day we had a river cruise on the Seine River...it was absolutely freezing but really cool to see the sights. We were all exhausted because most of us were unable to sleep on the plane ride overnight - though I was able to watch Silver Linings Playbook and the Devil Wears Prada (completely appropriate for this trip) on the plane. During the cruise we noticed a protest against gay marriage happening all around us. There were 1 million participants and 150,000 police walking in the protest - needless to say it was crazy and near impossible to make it back to the subway. Fun fact: military personnel walk around in armored suits with their finger on the trigger of a HUGE gun. It's extremely intimidating and uncomfortable - reason #65489 why I'm thankful to live in the USA. The next day we woke up early and ventured to Notre Dame, had lunch at the local Esmeralda Restaurant (yummy, cheap and lots of fun), Luxembourg Gardens (felt like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), Lock Bridge (a bridge where couples or good friends lock locks and throw the key into the water...signifying that their love is forever), dinner by the Eiffel tower (rigatoni with truffle cream - yumo!). Today was day 3 and it had another early start. We visited the Comite Colbert and listened to a promising and informative presentation about the company and their mark on the world and fashion industry, lunch at a cute bistro, with pink awning, near the Louvre, then we had a private tour through the decorative arts exhibit at the Louvre. The exhibit was incredible - so many transitions of home decor throughout the years...it proves that things come and go - most of our "accent pieces" today were inspired by previous designs. After the Louvre we traveled to the Opera House...the  one where Phantom of the Opera was filmed! It was massive...and really cool to see up close. Tomorrow we will venture to Reims for an all afternoon champagne tour and tasting. UPDATE ON THE WIFI: it's unreliable. I don't know when I'll be able to post more things...so sorry this is pretty brief, but I don't know how much longer the wifi will last. Only 5 more days in Paris - so much more shopping to do!!

xoxo, Katie

The day has finally come - I'm leaving the country! I am excited, nauseous, scared and ready to broaden my horizons! My flight from Norfolk to Philadelphia is about an hour, beginning around 4 pm. We have an hour layover in Philly and then fly straight to France arriving around 8 am Sunday morning! Say a couple extra prayers cause I'm terrified. I've loaded up on Dramamine in hopes that I can fall asleep and time will fly by (haha pun) and I intend to silently pray the entire time we're in the air. Let's also pray that my suitcase is under the weight limit so that I can adequately shop while in Paris. I'm not sure how the hotel Wi-Fi situation will work, but I'll update the blog as often as I can with all of my wonderful world traveling opinions. Here goes nothing - Au revoir!!

xoxo, Katie