The Amazing Race - Finish Line

This is it, the final hours of our Amazing Race, and it was amazing. It really did go by so fast, with a new adventure around every corner, the experience is bound to fly by. I only ever started to get homesick on the last day of the cruise, when I think the routine of the week reminded

me of what I've been missing at home.

The excitement at seeing the Eiffel Tower as the train came into the outskirts of the city brought me back. This last packing of the suitcase feels like we're just on to the next town for the new adventure, but even better because it's home.

You learn many things afer traveling 31 days together. One thing I can say is that this family has tenacity. Travel Boot Camp was the pace of this trip, and after all the bickering between the kids is said and done, they did very well keeping up with a pace that most adults wouldn't dare to attempt. With that being said, a couples only trip is next on the agenda!

Our last and first whole day in Paris was very exciting. We woke up and got out a little later than expected, which is bound to happen and you just have to go with the flow. The day was cloudy and much cooler, thank goodness! We decided to head to the Louvre first. Emma said she was so excited she was going to barf - not really of course, but I took that as the ultimate compliment, considering the source!

Walking through the courtyard to the pyramid entrance was like walking through a kingdom. The buildings are so ornate and commanding.

Of course the first item to see on the agenda: The Mona Lisa! Finding it was easy, trying to see it was not. It was crazy inside the museum! Shuffling shoulder to shoulder to see Mona was nuts. Although you are not supposed to use a flash on your camera, they were going off everywhere. You would've thought it was a Hollywood movie star and we were the paparazzi. After 28 days of traveling and getting over the "personal space invasion", Emma had no problem making her way to the front for her FaceBook picture.

We perused a few more DaVinci paintings, then made our way to the Venus DiMilo, known as the Gummy DiMilo made famous by Homer Simpson when he ate it (thus the connection between real life and art, and that includes for Mike!)