It's finally arrived. It's time to pack the bags and get out of town tomorrow. The past 34 days has been an incredible trip for us.

We made our way by subway today (buying the correct tickets this time) on the way to Notre Dame Cathedral as our starting point. Once we arrived at the appropriate station we came up to ethereal and magical Saint Chapelle which has been hailed as one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of the Western world - certainly this could not be overlooked. There was no line and the Museum Card was accepted so we got right in. No visitor can fail to be transported by the blaze of light created by the 15 magnificent stained glass windows In the upper Chapel. These glass windows soar some 50 feet (15m) to the star studded vaulted room. The chapel was built in 1248 by Louis IX to house Christ's purported Crown of Thorns which is now housed in the Notre Dame Treasury. You read these windows, starting from Genesis at the bottom and read up to the top and in a reverse "S" motion. Simply amazing.

Then it was on to Notre Dame. We were lucky again, no lineups and a church service going on at the time of our visit. Construction started in the 1163 making the start of 170 years of toil by armies of Gothic architects and medieval craftsmen. This cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece, standing on the site of a Roman temple. At the time this was finished in about 1330 it was 430 feet long and featured flying buttresses and 228 feet high towers. PIctures - Pictures - Pictures it's all I seem to take - I feel a little Japanese.

It's really hard not to take in the real beauty of this city - history is everywhere. Cleanliness is noted here in the tourist areas as compared to where we've been hanging our hat in the "sex" distritct that houses the Moulin Rouge Dance Hall.

From there we walked along the Seine and headed toward the Louvre. Again, all my previous times here in this city of lights was mostly spent on business so I rarely did the touristy things. It was my first time at the Musee du Louvre which contains one of the most important art collections in the world and has a history extending back to medieval times. This was first constructed as a fortress in 1190 by King Phillippe-Auguste to protect Paris against Viking raids.

After heading up stairs and along huge corridors of oversized Italian artworks....there she was. Leonardo da Vinci's small portrait hung on it's own separate wall. It is the famous painting of a Forentine noblewomen known to some as La Gioconda or to many as the Mona Lisa. This is the main brand for the Louvre - it's on every pen, magnet, sign and book in the place, but yet there are thousands of other works of art like the Raft of the Medusa by Gericault or the Lacemaker by Vermeer.

We purchased the Museum Card for 42Euros. If we have paid the full admission price at each of the museums, we would have paid more so generally this was a good purchase all around as it saved us some time from the cue. You could tell by everyone's faces, this was enough touring, enough walking and it was time to head back to the apartment.

Given this was our last night in Europe and more specifically Paris, Deb and I decided to go out and have a nice dinner while T&J opted to stay in for leftovers. After dinner, we thought we would cruise the area at dusk - lots of lights especially in the "sex" district as I said earlier - we're about a five minute walk from the Moulin Rouge so there are lots of shops that will sell you anything related to love at just the right price and size.

This should be my last blog other than a note from Vancouver when we get back home just to end this thing. I want to say how appreciative I am to all the people that have regularly opened my link for a look at our pictures or the thoughts that have been going through my head. THANKS.

Next stop - Vancouver via Amsterdam at 9:30 a.m. departure tomorrow - time to pack the bags one last time - shed some unwanted items so that I can comply with the 23kg or 50lb limits as I've been playing dodge ball with the check-in process at each airport that I've been to.