wanderlust wednesday

View of the Sacre Coeur from the Arc de Triomphe; Paris, France. March, 2013. 

Exhilarating. That's the only way to describe this cold, sunsetty evening, the whitewashed light of the setting sun casting a bright line across the Sacre Coeur.
The Arc de Triomphe has the absolute best views in Paris.

meet me in versailles

Our last day in Paris, we spent the majority of our time touring the magnificent Versailles.

It was nothing like I imagined it -- the chateau itself is one of the largest in the world, and is absolutely glorious in its wealth. Its history is wrought with extravagance, French power and ultimately its fame as a symbol of absolute monarchy.
But in the midst of the leftover winter, the grounds mirrored the dreariness of the skies.

Most of the garden areas weren't in bloom yet, and the statues were covered up and the fountains weren't flowing.
We spent most of our day walking around, a kind of eerie solitude seeming to follow us around.

Dress/Belt: Primark in London, Pants: Forever 21 (shop!), Purse: Target, Scarf: Disneyland, Watch: Gifted/La Mer from Target (shop!), Hat: (similar!), Booties: Urbanog

It was such a windy day, that I was equal parts happy and annoyed with my hat.
It was the perfect solution to keeping my ears warm, but it often attempted to fly off my head in the particularly ambitious bouts of wind.
All in all, I really like it and will try and continue to break my "I'm not a hat person" mantra.

As you can see, Versailles is enormous.
It was overwhelming walking around the property, unsure if we'd ever reach the outer limits.
I kind of had the feeling of walking around an abandoned property, or perhaps a haunted mansion where the inhabitants are long gone, but a mysterious spirit remains.
Even so, the property is littered with treasures, like little restaurants and secret gardens and other smaller chateaus, including the summer home of Marie Antoinette.
I became enchanted with her, such a tragic and strange historical figure. I wished I could have visited her in her prime, before all the chaos and obviously...the beheading.

It was quite an amazing experience, even though we were wishing for Spring the entire time!

mona lisa smile

While it was extremely cold our entire visit to Paris, we had a few days of amazing sunshine.

We arrived to everything covered in snow, so it was actually kind of fun experiencing the city in snow, sunshine, and rain throughout our time there.

As I said in a previous trip post, I had to be creative in my layering. My husband would laugh at me, because I would do my best to look "cute" and colorful, despite being in 100 layers.

This outfit is actually composed of a black v-neck t-shirt, the patterned top, a black cardigan, my cashmere sweater, my big black coat, a scarf, tights, coral pants, socks and boots. Whew!

Napoleon's Tomb

We were marathon sightseers. Looking back through all of our pictures, I'm amazed at all that we saw each day. Napoleon's Tomb was a shocking experience; it's something that we added last minute to our agenda and I'm so very glad we did.
It's full of beauty and history and exquisite art. I would highly recommend visiting Les Invalides if you get the chance!

Top: Ruche, Pants: Ruche, Scarf: Primark in London
Boots: Urbanog, Purse: Target, Sunglasses: Ruche

I love art and architecture, and walking up to the Louvre for the first time was inexplicable.
I had heard a million times how massive and extensive it is, but I hadn't really prepared myself for the weight of taking it all in. It was unbelievable. I couldn't believe this structure was dedicated all to art!


"Mona Lisa Smile" is one of my favorite movies.
If you haven't seen it, you should -- there are so many things to uncover in that movie. The music is wonderful, the cast is great, and there's something magical about it that I'm not even sure I could explain.
In any case, it was on my mind when we went to the Louvre!

Obligatory tourist snapshot!

Once inside the Louvre, it felt amazing to shed our outer layers and take our time walking around.
We had a list of all the pieces of art we had to see, so we made our way through the museum with those in mind.

I know many people say that seeing the Mona Lisa in person is disappointing, but I definitely didn't think so. I think the hardest thing is trying to appreciate her while huge crowds are bustling around, taking pictures, making noise, and rushing through.
The true tragedy is that The Mona Lisa is surrounded by crowds of people, none of which truly appreciate what they're seeing...the average viewer spends 15 seconds or less in front of her.
We took time off to the side, staring and wondering about her, taking in every detail. Why do so many people gather to her? What made her so famous?
I doubt anyone in that room could even tell me.

As for me, I wish I could do outfit photos with miss Mona every day of the week.
Maybe then I could discover her many secrets.

a snowy day in paris

It's easy to see why Paris is beloved by all.
The art, the architecture, the streets, the history, the food, the river...it all sparkles with its own spirit of beauty.
Take it from me: if you ever go to Paris, go ahead and get a Nutella crepe, but also try the Grand Marnier crepe. It's divine.
There's nothing like taking in the age-old sights with a warm crepe in hand.
And Starbucks, just to feel at home :)


As with all of my trip outfits, I had to be extremely creative with how I bundled up!
It's not easy to look or feel cute when you're wearing the same big black coat and boots every day.
However, it very quickly became warmth over cuteness!
Our first day in Paris was all snow and chilly breezes, so it was essential to try and layer our clothes as much as possible to take the bite out of the cold.
This is how I managed to stay warm while still feeling feminine and making use of some of the cute items in my suitcase:

1. I wore tights under everything. In this instance, my bottom layers are Target tights, Forever 21 skinny jeans, and then the dress!
2. I wore socks over my tights and the tips of my jeans, to add extra warmth for my feet.
3. I wore a turtle neck under everything almost every day, as well as a buttoned-up cardigan (sometimes two, or an added cashmere sweater), the dress, and then a scarf and coat.

Feel free to message me for any trip details, and head on over to my personal blog for full details of our experiences. In the meantime, let all the pictures do the talking:

Dress: Ruche (similar), Jeans: Forever 21 (shop!), Boots: Urbanog (similar), (similar),
Purse: Target, Scarf: Disneyland, Sunglasses: Ruche (shop!)

We were pretty tired out and numb from our first day, and the perfect way to remedy that was to go to Laduree for dessert and hot tea.
I would highly recommend this fancy haven for a sweet treat and definitely for their famous macarons!

What a perfect way to end a perfect day. :)