One of the highlights of our trip to Paris was a visit to the Palace of Versailles. Even though I’ve read about Versailles over the years, nothing prepared me for the awesome gaudiness that is the palace. Gold, mirrors, heavy textiles and bling at every turn. The Hall of Mirrors was particularly dizzying. The slightly more understated palazzi here in Florence are more my style, but Versailles was definitely a unique experience.

Versailles is a pleasant 35 minute RER train ride from the center of Paris. Even with Livia in tow we found it easy to navigate. The town of Versailles is actually quite pleasant, as well. I was a little bummed that more of Versailles wasn’t open to tour, but I’ve read enough about art budget cuts in France (gasp!) to know that it may have played a part.

We opted to carry Livia the entire time in the Baby Bjorn and it worked out perfectly. We would have had to check the stroller at Versaille’s “front door” anyway, so it wasn’t worth dragging along on public transportation. Versailles was the very first time she faced out in the carrier and suffice she say that she was on visual overload!

We’re back in Florence after a wonderful 5-day trip to Paris. Rob and I are both excited to report that we loved it. We weren’t the biggest fans of southern France — which we visited last December — and are excited that we gave France another chance.

When you are blessed like we are to have a lifestyle that lets you travel to such dreamy places you can feel pressured to love every single place that you visit. We actually felt bad last year telling people that southern France wasn’t our cup of tea. This “traveler’s guilt” is a topic for a future post, for sure. I’ve talked to enough people here to know that it’s a pressure many of us feel when visiting such “once in a lifetime” places.

We’ll have a handful of posts in the next few weeks showing off some of what we saw in Paris. In the meantime, I wanted to post about a call for submissions for this blog!

Here’s the Deal…

Early in the New Year we will be relaunching La Vita e’ Bella. It’s going to be a totally new look and approach for us, including more posts, guides and resources that our readers love. Our revamped blog is going to feature new series and, as such, we are looking for both contributors and interviewees. Check out what’s below. If you’re interested, send your pitch to hashconsulting [at] gmail [dot] com.

• Expat Business: Are you an expat with a successful business abroad? Whether you are a one-person show or the owner of a large company, we’d love to interview you for this series. Our readers love learning about how people have “made” it abroad. Those with businesses in Italy are preferred, but we’d love to hear from folks all over the world, too!
• Italy City/Town/Neighborhood Guides: Share your favorites with our readers! Whether you live in a big city or small town here in Italy, we welcome your city guide submissions. You can write about a single neighborhood in Rome or a tiny town in Puglia. Your guide can be short and sweet or long and detailed. What’s more, you can write a guide for all seasons or something specific like “Milan in December.” Be creative! We do request 3-5 photos to accompany your guide.
• Expat Life: We had a great series running in 2011 and we’re bringing it back in 2013! If you’re an expat living in Italy and want to be interviewed about how you found your way here (and why you’ve stayed!) we’d love to chat.
• Regional Specialities: This new series is all about regional specialties and traditions. From food to wine to parades to holidays, we want to hear about what makes your region of Italy special. 3-5 photos requested for these posts, too.

That’s all for now. We’ll be back next week with new posts!