All eyes - and cameras - on first lady in Europe

Already a crazy crew, the European paparazzi must be out of their minds with anticipation: Michelle Obama is coming to visit.

Buoyed by positive reviews at home, the first lady embarks today with her husband on their first overseas trip, virtually certain to attract as much klieg-light attention as President Obama on a five-day visit to Europe.

What will she do, whom will she meet, what will she wear? When she accompanies her husband to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, will she be - gasp! - sleeveless?

And speaking of the money shot, imagine the roar of firing camera shutters when tall, chic ex-lawyer Michelle meets tall, chic ex-model Carla - that is, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, first lady of France. Galaxies colliding indeed.

But don't expect Obama to branch out on her own, make policy statements or be provocative. Her role on this trip, says her press secretary, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, will conform to traditional first lady parameters. She will join her husband at his events, going solo only twice, and won't give interviews. She will listen raptly to his speeches, charm the locals at glittery dinners and visit first lady-type places (an opera house, cancer clinic, girls' school, hospital, a cathedral) with her counterparts in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.

"On foreign trips, especially the first, it would be surprising if her role "wasn't "traditional," says Carl Sferrazza Anthony, historian of the National First Ladies Library. "Even (former first lady) Hillary Clinton, during her first trips, played a traditional role."

So far, Obama has won plaudits for balancing tradition with innovation in her public role. As the British say about their queen, she has not put a foot wrong.

"She has done extraordinarily well by following the cardinal, unwritten rule of what a successful first lady needs to do, which is to be who you really are," Anthony says. "It's not just about being a public persona but also a person."

Obama has been out and about in Washington, D.C., dining at local restaurants and helping out at a soup kitchen. She has visited schools and led the cheers for the work of federal employees. She kept Laura Bush's chef, promoted healthful eating like Clinton, planted a kitchen garden on the White House lawn like Eleanor Roosevelt, and, like Jacqueline Kennedy, installed a swing set for daughters Malia and Sasha.