The clocks played the radio to wake us up right at ten o'clock am, just like my father had set them to do. We all awoke, rubbing our eyes, eager to go about the day. After a good night's sleep, we all awoke to be free from the pain that we felt in our legs the day before but stiffness was left in its wake.

The three of us leaped from our beds, got dressed, and headed to the hotel lounge for breakfast, then off for another day of sightseeing. We decided to visit the Musée d'Orsay museum in Paris that housed artwork from well-known artists like Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro, and some artwork from lesser-known artists like Maximilien Luce.

After visiting that museum, we walked across the Pont des Arts, which is a pedestrian bridge for onlookers to stand and gaze at the Seine river.

As we stood on that bridge, we took in the breathtaking view of the river, the boats coming through just underneath us, and the Eiffel Tower. Of all of Paris that we have visited since coming on this trip, this had to be the most beautiful place to see the city.

My mother had taken so many pictures on the bridge that I was beginning to think she used almost half the film on her camera.

After standing on the bridge, watching the world around us stand still for about thirty minutes, we headed somewhere for lunch. This time we decided to go to good ole McDonald's.

We finally concluded our day of sightseeing by visiting the Bois de Boulogne, which is a public park that houses a nice botanical garden. We loved visiting the greenhouse and seeing all the beautiful plants that they had.

We finally decided to go back to the hotel for the night to have dinner. We tried lamb like everyone we had run into had told us that we needed to try. Apparently it's a very popular dish in France.

After we finished our dinner we made our way back to our hotel room, nearly passing out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Just like the previous day, time flew by so fast. We only had a few days left in Paris until it was time for the trip to come to an end.

The next few days we visited places like the Arc de Triomphe, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Montmartre, Latin Quarter, and the Jardin d'Acclimatation, which is an amusement park that we spent an entire day enjoying.

When we went to the amusement park I saw the same little boy from my dream that I saw at the Eiffel Tower. It felt quite funny running into him again. My parents didn't notice him and his mother, but there was no way that I wouldn't have noticed. It was like running into an old friend again. We exchanged smiles before he skipped away with his mother to ride the swings.

Before we knew it, the time had slipped through our fingers and we were finally enjoying our last day of Paris. The sun shone brightly overhead as we got our belongings gathered for the early flight back to Kentucky the next morning.

We spent our last time soaking up some water and sun at a waterpark called Aqualagon.

After the water and the sun had worn us out, we decided to take one last trip back to the Eiffel Tower to take in its beauty, before bidding France our farewells. After all, come tomorrow the trip will be a thing of the past, and all we will have left are the pictures that we took and the memories that we made.

Once again, I ran into that same little boy at the Eiffel Tower. It seemed so odd that I had ran into him two other times since first meeting him at this very spot.

The little boy, whose name I still didn't know, walked up to me and put his hand into mine, before placing a gentle sweet kiss upon my cheek. My face turned a deep scarlet.

His mother asked if she could take a picture of the two of us together before we had to leave Paris. My parents insisted that she take the picture because it isn't every day that you develop a puppy love in Paris. Everyone thought it was the cutest thing.

I bid my farewell to my Paris prince as we headed back up to the hotel. We ordered take out while resting our legs before our ten-hour flight back home.

THE NEXT DAY

The next day had crept up on us ever so quickly. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Paris, but I knew that I had no other choice. Some part of me just wanted to move here and stay forever, but our lives were waiting for us back at home.

We headed off to the airport with our luggage in the back of our rental car. Tears were ready to escape my eyes as I turned around to see the beautiful city pass on by through the rearview glass.

We arrived at the airport about an hour before our plane was due to take off. We checked in and put our luggage on the conveyor to be checked. While waiting for the message that our plane was ready to board, we decided to eat some breakfast at the airport. After all, we had a long flight ahead of us.

Finally, the moment I dreaded to hear came. It was time to board the plane. I made my way to my seat and waited patiently for takeoff, as I stared out of the window, taking in the last bit of Paris that I could. If I was sad to leave Paris, I only wondered how sad my mom must have been. The reality is that all good things must come to an end. But at least the memories that we made will last a lifetime.

I buckled my seat belt as the plane began to taxi the runway to prepare for take-off. Slowly, the plane made its ascent into the air. We hit a bit of turbulence, which scared me, but my mother insisted that everything was okay.

Little by little, everything got smaller until there was nothing left of Paris that I could make out. The clouds had covered the view so seeing anything would be impossible. I rested my head against the seat as I turned my head to the window, and let warm, salty tears escape my eyes. I wasn't ready for the trip to be over, although part of me was so glad to be on our way home so I could sleep soundly in my comfortable bed. I suppose that no matter where you go, nothing is like being at home.

I pulled out my book that I had started to read on our trip to Paris and decided to get lost in its pages. We had ten hours until we would be arriving safely at the airport back home, so I had plenty of time to do things to keep me busy.

Some time or another I must have dozed off to sleep, because by the time I opened my eyes, we were getting ready to make our descent into the airport.

When we arrived, we claimed our bags at the bag claiming area, and got back into our van. We tossed our bags into the back and dropped my mothers' cameras off at our local Walmart to get developed, before heading home.

When we finally made it back to the house safely it was 11 am our time, which would mean it was late afternoon in Paris.

We all decided to take a nap before going later in the evening to pick up our photos from the trip. We were all very excited to see the pictures of the memories that we created.

After a much-needed rest, our home phone rang. It was a call to let us know that our pictures had been developed and they were ready to be picked up. So we made our way to Walmart to pay for and pick up our pictures. My mother had to get a couple of picture albums for our pictures. Funny enough, she picked albums that had an embroidered Eiffel Tower on them.

We stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken to pick up a family meal before heading home. The flight home had drained us of all energy, so no one really felt like cooking.

I helped my mother put food onto all of our plates and we gathered around the dining table. We joined hands as my father thanked God for our meal and for getting us back home safely.

We enjoyed our meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits, before we all sat together on our tan plush couch to look at all of the pictures we had taken.

There were pictures from our trip to the garden, the amusement park, waterpark, and various other places. Then we came across our family picture in front of the Eiffel Tower. The smiles on all of our faces were enough to say that we had really enjoyed our time in Paris.

I helped my mom put all of the pictures into the albums before I ran upstairs. I took my suitcase with me and began to take out all of the dirty laundry, placing it into the hamper. Then I came across my stuffed animal that I had gotten in Paris. I snuggled up with her as I climbed into my bed, waiting for a goodnight hug and kiss from my parents.

Although I missed Paris and was sad that our time had come to an end, I was so glad to finally be home in my warm bed. As soon as I closed my eyes in sleep I fell into a deep slumber...dreaming of my time in Paris.