PARIS: A private party at Versailles, a girls' night out in Paris, a glam gathering at Valentino's French chateau - Kim Kardashian has had a high-profile, big-budget week. What could possibly top that?
Wedding bells, perhaps.
The reality TV star and Kanye West are expected to wed in Italy on Saturday, according to the Florence mayor's office.
The buildup has been unfolding on Instagram and Twitter, as Kardashian and her entourage chronicle the pre-wedding adventures online. Even as they pose for paparazzi, though, they're cultivating a careful mystery about when and where the pair will formally tie the knot.
Tuesday, the couple shopped at Givenchy. Wednesday, they went to the gym. Thursday, Kardashian donned a pearl-covered dress from Balmain Couture and posed with girlfriends in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum in what looked suspiciously like a bachelorette bash. Her sister Kourtney munched on frog legs.
On Friday, guests shared brunch and strolled with Valentino in the gardens of his 17th-century Chateau de Wideville west of Paris.
Then came an evening fit for the Sun King: A private tour of the nearby Chateau of Versailles. Crowds of fans mobbed West's car as it entered the grounds in a convoy of black vehicles, riding up the cobblestone toward the gilded entrance of the French royal domain.
Next up: Florence.
A spokeswoman at the Florence mayor's office says they rented the 16th century Belvedere Fort for 300,000 euros ($410,000) for a wedding ceremony Saturday. A Protestant minister is expected to preside, spokeswoman Elisa Di Lupo said.
West, 36, proposed to Kardashian on her 33rd birthday in October, renting out San Francisco's AT&T Park for the occasion.
The wedding is a first for West, and a third for Kardashian. She was wed to music producer Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2003, and spent 72 days married to professional basketball player Kris Humphries in 2011 after tying the knot in a lavish ceremony broadcast as a two-part TV special.
West, in an interview with Florence's La Nazione newspaper published last week, extolled the beauty of Florence. Asked if he was excited about May 24, he said, "Very excited. But very happy."
The fort, located next to the famed Boboli Gardens, offers a panoramic view of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan hills. Owned by the Italian government, it been closed to the public for the past five years for security upgrades after two young Italians fell to their deaths from its ramparts.
Di Lupo said the proceeds from the rental would go to fund restorations for Florence's artistic treasures.
