After leaving the Caribbean behind, we were finally approaching the end of our long journey. Nearly ten weeks on the road, countless flights, hotels, restaurants, unforgettable experiences and a fair share of little travel mishaps. But we weren't quite done yet.
Before heading back home to Finland, we had one last stop: Paris.
After weeks of tropical temperatures, palm trees and beaches, returning to Europe felt like quite a change of scenery. The trip was slowly coming to an end, and while the thought of going home was starting to sound pretty good, we still had a few days left to enjoy. And really, there are worse places to wrap up a big adventure than Paris.
Our flight from Cancún departed in the evening and landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle around noon the next day. Junior managed to get a solid six hours of sleep on the plane, which was great for him. His parents weren't quite as lucky, so we arrived in Paris feeling a little less refreshed than the youngest member of our crew.
At the airport, we spent a while trying to figure out where exactly our Uber was supposed to pick us up. As it turned out, the pickup point was somewhere else entirely from where we had first been looking. Eventually we found our ride, and Junior wasted no time catching up on even more sleep in the back seat.
Our Airbnb host was there to welcome us, and we settled into our new home for the next few days. It was a fairly small, two-storey apartment, a bit chilly at first, but cosy enough. And after the warm Caribbean weather, we were quickly reminded that February in Europe was a very different story.
Despite the lack of sleep, we didn't spend much time sitting around. We headed straight out to explore the neighbourhood and get our first feel for Paris. Some warmer clothes were high on the shopping list, and naturally, finding something good to eat was equally important. So our first afternoon turned into a mixture of clothes shopping, wandering the streets and enjoying the fact that we still had one last city to discover before heading home.
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| Escargots x6 belle grosseur |
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| Confit de Canard |
Junior had been talking about wanting to see the Eiffel Tower for quite some time, and in fact, it was one of the reasons we had chosen to fly home via Paris in the first place. So the plan for our next day was pretty obvious.
We had bought tickets a couple of days earlier, and after breakfast we set off to figure out the Paris metro system and make our way towards the tower. The metro didn't take us quite all the way there, so we had a bit of walking to do along the Seine. As the Eiffel Tower finally came into view, Junior excitedly announced: "NOW we are in France, because we can see the Eiffel Tower!"
Well, can't argue with that logic.
And since we had come all this way, we naturally had to go all the way to the top. The views over Paris were impressive, and we spent a good while admiring the city from above. Once we had seen enough, we made our way back down, taking the stairs for part of the descent.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around Paris, taking in the sights and enjoying some French classics — onion soup and crêpes included.
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| NOW we are in France! |
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| The tötterö |
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| What goes up... |
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| ...must come down |
On our last full day in Paris, we started with a visit to a nearby playground before heading out to explore more of the city, mostly on foot.
We had considered visiting the Louvre, but with our limited time it would have been a bit of a rush. And to be fair, Junior probably wasn't quite ready to spend hours wandering through a museum and standing in endless queues just to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. So we settled for admiring the Louvre from the outside instead. The building itself was impressive enough, and we spent some time wandering around its courtyard and taking in the surroundings.
We also walked past Notre-Dame, stopping to admire the famous cathedral and its gargoyles. Even without going inside either landmark, there was plenty to see, and simply wandering the streets of Paris turned out to be a pretty good way to spend our last full day on the trip.
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| Espresso yourself on the Pont Neuf. |
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| Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris architectural details |
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| The river Seine flowing through Paris |
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| Louvre Courtyard, Cour Napoléon |
Aftermath (by Sini) — Back to Everyday Life
And just like that, we were back in Finland. It was time to unpack our backpacks and slowly settle back into everyday life. Our big adventure had come to an end.
What an incredible journey it had been.
Before leaving, I had worried about so many things. Travelling so far, for so long, with a five-year-old brought plenty of questions and fears. And in the end, almost none of those worries turned into the problems I had imagined. Of course, it's good to be careful, especially when travelling with a child, but you can't let fear make all your decisions. I couldn't be happier that we had this opportunity — and that we actually took it and made it happen.
And Junior? What an absolute superstar he turned out to be. Different apartments, unfamiliar beds, new countries, changing languages and endless forms of transportation — none of it seemed to faze him. He simply adapted and went along with the adventure. He may not remember every detail when he's older, but I hope these experiences will stay with him in some way. Being able to show him the world and all that it has to offer is one of the greatest gifts we can give him. ❤️
And as for this blog? Who knows where we'll be dusting it off next — or how long it'll take us to write about it? This has always been our little travel diary, even if we're sometimes painfully slow at keeping it up to date. We write it mainly for ourselves, to keep the memories alive. But if someone else has enjoyed following along, found a useful tip or simply had a smile along the way, all the better.
Until the next adventure!
