Day 30: Shopping and a Nice Lunch

Hi everyone!

Today, we left the house around 10am to go back to the beach-side shopping and food filled town.  My mom and I peeked into some stores and boutiques while Tony and my dad looked around the town.  We did this for about two hours or so and then decided it was time for lunch.  We found a place that has a nice three course special going on.  Fancy.  My dad, mom and I each did the special lunch deal and Tony got some fettuccine alfredo.  For the main part of the meal, my mom and I both ordered a traditional Spanish Seafood Paella.  This is a rice dish that is packed with who knows what types of seafood.  Almost the entire time, I was laughing at the tiny tentacles in it.  WHAT CREATURE ARE YOU??  We questioned the types of seafood in it almost the entire time, "Sophia what is this?"-mom, "I dunno, here, I'll try it."-me "Okay."-mom "Tastes like a bean."-me "It doesn't look like a bean."-mom "What animal pretends that it's a bean then?"-me.  But it was a fun adventure.  Afterwards, we were all sleepy from shopping and everything so we headed home.  When we got home, everyone decided to sleep and I went for a swim.  Right now, everyone is just relaxing around the house.

Thank you for reading!

-Sophia :)

Apparently "Moke" (the name of this little car) was my dad's childhood nickname

Our reactions to seeing how big our lunch was

Tony showing off this new fake Rollex watch

Dessert!

Our lovely patio

The best part! 

Tony bought both a fake Rollex watch and fake Raybands sunglasses in one day.  *cringes*

Day 29: Beaches and Tapas

Hey everybody!

First, let me apologize for the lack of photos, I tried to upload some yesterday but it was going very slowly so new ones should be up in the next hour or so!

Today was so much fun.  We left the house around 9:30am and headed to the close by "rock beach" which is a very small stretch of pebble-y sand and the most turquoise water you've ever seen.  It was so amazing.  As you know, my family and I are very American and are stuck in our American ways, therefore, it was a bit of a shock when we saw some people enjoying the sun to its fullest.  Nude.  Even though it was a little odd, I mean, you do you.  SPAIN.  My dad checked the menus of the two little bars on the beach as Tony, my mom, and I all put our feet in the cool, clear water.  We then pulled out of the parking lot to head to the next beach.  Tony, however wasn't feeling too great so we stopped a few times to help him feel better.  Aw.  We reached the next beach and walked up and down, then after talking to a British family who was also exploring, we decided to visit the next beach a bit further down.  We took the car over and found a long, human-packed, mostly clothed, gorgeous beach.  After a whole lot of attempting to change into a swimsuit behind a towel, I succeeded and Tony and I went for a swim while my dad explored and my mom stayed on the sand.  We even saw a school of fish!  Very cool.  After a while, my dad came back from his exploration and we decided to rent one of the car/boat/waterslide devises.  WHAT?  Exactly, this is disguised as a plastic Volkswagen Bug but actually is a pedal boat that actually is a water slide.  Don't worry, I'll put pictures to enlighten you.  We rented it four an hour and that hour was a party and a half.  Very fun.  After the hour was up, we headed back to shore to return it and were all pretty starving.  So after another struggle of my mom and I changing behind towels, we were on our way.  My dad had spotted a "tapas" restaurant on his exploration, so we decided to go there.  I TRIED A SARDINE, you would've been so proud.  Granted, I was tricked into thinking it was calamari, yes, but I still did.  Not bad.  We ordered a bunch of tapas plates and after our lovely meal, we walked down the street and grabbed a gelato on the way.  Very yummy.  We were all pretty tired from all of the swimming and eating, so we headed home, back to Casa Camilia.  It was a pretty easy drive back now that we knew what we were doing. (by we, I mean my dad and Tony.)

After all of the excitement, we all went to sleep or relaxed for a bit and then woke up and just sort of did whatever relaxing activity sounded enticing.  We just kind of snacked for dinner and everyone went to sleep pretty early, except for me, I stayed up for a bit talking to a friend.  It was a very very nice day.

Thank you for reading!

-Sophia :)

We found a very photogenic cave.

Did I describe this right??

The struggle.  (PS. look how pale I am)

Tapas!

         

Day 28: Sleep and Swimming

Hello everyone!  I hope you're having a lovely Sunday.

Today has been the most relaxing and lovely day.  Unfortunately, this also means there isn't a whole lot to write about.  We all slept in super late today which was amazing after our up at 5am morning yesterday.  My mom and I then took a nice dip in the amazing pool, that's pretty much been the day!  Swimming, sleeping, eating, swimming.  Sounds pretty nice right?  Correct.  My dad and I just got back from a trip to the grocery store and now my mom is asleep, Tony's videochatting his friends, my dad is wandering the house aimlessly, and I'm doing the blog and listening to youtube song covers.  I hope you liked this tiny little update!

Thanks for reading!

-Sophia :)

Day 27: Flight to Spain and Our New Backyard

Hey everyone!  I hope you either had an exciting, eventful day, or a relaxing one, whichever you prefer.

So today was pretty action packed.  It was our last night in Paris last night.  *teardrop* We got up around 5am, *more teardrops* to be ready for our 6:30am pickup in a Taxi and then our 9:30 flight to Alicante, Spain.  We were driven to the airport by a jolly French fellow who would whisper to himself for a few seconds in French and then chuckle for a bit.  When he dropped us off at the airport, we took off for our terminal and checked our bags in.  Then, we sat down and read or talked with people for a bit while sipping our coffees.   Then we walked to the line where we would be boarding and embarked on our two hour flight to Spain.  It was a very smooth flight with no issues.  (Other than a crying baby, aww)  When we got off, we made our way to the booth where my dad was to pick up the paperwork for our rental car, the line was unreal.  We had to wait almost an hour and a half!  Very fun.  Then we grabbed some sandwiches and were off to the next stop on our rental car pickup schedule.  We took an elevator or two to the rental car garage and were told that the car was not yet ready, the one we had booked was no longer available, and we'd be driving a Scoda.  (That means nothing to me, I hope you know what that is.)  So we waited another forty minutes or so for our car.  Once we got the thing, we went on the road, after figuring out how to get out of the parking garage that is.  The drive was about an hour and a half, most of which I slept through, but was told it went well.  We arrived at the meeting place where the host of the rental house we'd be staying at would meet us.  (Background: The house belongs to our Dutch aunt and uncle, but they have a host who greets the guests. Thanks you two!)  We met with him and then drove behind him up the tall, gorgeous hill along the Mediterranean Sea.  When we arrived at the house, he gave us a brief tour around the adorable, three story, Casa Camellia.  We found the amazing infinity pool overlooking the Mediterranean, and the cute patio, and that we're back to having three rooms!  Yay!  This house is absolutely gorgeous though, and I'm so glad we get to stay here.  After he went on his way, we headed out to the grocery store down the hill, about ten minutes away.  We got the essentials and headed back to our place.  After the sticky heat, we all welcomed a shower.  Next, we all enjoyed the beautiful pool and view.  Now, I'm sitting here typing this from the patio which is high up on a hill and looks out at the ocean and my dad is next to me barbecuing.  We're going to enjoy some chicken and veggie skewers soon!  We're all going to sleep so well tonight, I predict.  Looking forward to tomorrow's shenanigans.

Thanks for reading!

-Sophia:)        

Ready for take off!

*waits 7 trillion million years*  

The wait for our car was so worth it!

Day 26: Palaces and Golfcarting

Hey everyone, I hope you're doing well!

Today, we woke up early-early at 6:30am (yes, I realize that this is inhumane on vacation), and took the train around 8:00 to Versailles.  We then made our way down to The Place of Versailles.  This palace-mansion type thing was used for centuries by Marie Antoinette, Louis XIV, and other famous rulers of France.  It had romantic, intricate wall murals, and beautifully crafted sculptures and architecture.  When walking through the hall of mirrors, literally just a hall lined with mirrors and paintings, I decided to sit down since I was so tired of walking.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a few women were standing near me whispering loudly and pointing at me FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES.  Obviously, I got tired of this, so I looked over and said, "Can I help you?"  (more politely than it looks typed) They came over and spoke to me very excitedly in a foreign language and from what I gathered, they thought I was someone famous, so I now have fans.  I took a few pictures with them and walked away as they happily talked about me and pointed me out to everyone else in their group.  If you see any pictures of me with a foreign looking tourist in a hall of mirrors, you know what's up.  After that, we headed out to the garden (which was hUGe, easily more than 5 or 6 miles) to eat our picnic lunch we'd packed.  Next, we headed back to the main house to rent a golf-cart.  We rode that around for a while before heading over to the house where Marie Antoinette had her quarters.  It was also extravagant and beautiful.  We were all super tired after that, so we headed back to the train station with an ice cream stop along the way.  We then got on the train and took the ride back to the Eiffel Tower stop.  On the walk from the station back to the apartment, we stopped in a nearby bakery.  My mom picked up some chocolate mousse and some baguettes, and I got a box of my new true love, macrons.  Now, we're all hanging about, repacking, watching a movie, or ya know, typing a blog.  We're going to grab some dinner and hopefully sleep pretty early since it's up at 5am tomorrow for the flight to Spain!

Just me and my fans

In our little golf cart 

The gorgeous gardens

Day 25: Shopping and Eating Gold

Hey everyone!  I hope you've had a fabulous day.

Today was the day where we did what everyone comes to Paris to do.  SHOPPING.  *claps hands*  We woke up and had some breakfast before jumping on the train to go to the shopping districts.  We got off and found ourselves on the long street of tourist-y souvenir shops.  We peeked in a few and grabbed some postcards, Tony also grabbed the most stereotypical beret hat, you would be so proud.  After that,we decided to check out the high-end stores that you think of when you hear "Paris."  As we walked down the street, the prices got higher and higher, just a casual $30,000 watch.  The usual.  We did peek in Tiffany's though and it was gorgeous.  My dad and Tony mostly wandered while my mom and I wove in and out of stores.  We soon found our way to a fancy bakery/chocolate shop and I found some authentic French macrons and Tony bought a chocolate eclair with actual gold flakes on it.  Welcome to the fancy end of Paris, friends, where you eat gold.  Both the macrons and the eclair were fabulous.  Afterwards, we passed by what I consider to be somewhat the French version of Forever 21 (A predominantly American clothing store, also, it's my favorite.).  After looking around for a bit and trying a few things on, I decided to buy a dress that I liked.  Very excited about it! :)

Next, we were all pretty exhausted so we headed back to our apartment via train.  When we got back, my parents went for a walk and Tony and I stayed back and hung out for a bit.  Then, I went to the store to get some makings for dinner and headed back.  After dinner, we all were super tired so we went to sleep.

Thanks for reading!

-Sophia :)

Day 24: The Louvre, Unexpected Local Hangouts, and Boat Tour

Hello lovely people, I hope you woke up without an alarm going off this morning. (And I don't say that to just anyone.)

Today, we saw almost all the stuff you're supposed to see in Paris and I find that impressive.  Yay us.  We woke up around eight and had some breakfast before heading out on the train to the oh-so-famous Louvre Art Museum.  First thing's first, this thing (the Louvre building) is HUGE.  When people say they could spend a week in it, they aren't joking, like you would have to if you were to see the entire thing.  We walked in and switched lines about four times before finding the right one.  We had prepaid tickets, you see, so we skipped all the lines.  HURAY!  Once we entered the building, we headed to the wing that featured the Ancient Greek and Roman artwork.  It was really incredible how much time these people spent taking so much care to do such tiny details in vases, earns, and who knows what else.  It was really amazing.  After spending a few hours there, we declared that it was time to see.....DUN DUN DUNNNN...... The Mona Lisa.  Of course I had to see her.  We fought our way to somewhat the front of the crowd to take a picture or two, I did get shoved/shoulder checked by MULTIPLE little old women.  How dare they.  But, it was really great to see.  It was so neat how people from all over the world came to see one great painting.  We left the Louvre museum and Tony and I headed over the the connected mall "The Louvre Carrosel."  We looked around a bit while my parents went to pick up our canal boat tickets for later that night.

We came back to the apartment after that and we all relaxed a bit.  After that, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower park (the one that just happens to pretty much be our backyard!) and found the Hop-on Hop-off tour bus stop.  We jumped on the open air topside and plugged in our headphones for a historic view of the city of lights.  It was a really great tour.  We missed the stop we'd planned on getting off at, but got off at the next one.  It was a paved trail along the Sein (sane) River (JOKE TIME: people who jump off the bridge there are in-Sein.  Applause is welcome.).  We walked along the river and found that there are multiple little restaurants along the way.  Along the path, there is also little cabanas made out of storage lockers that you could sign up for online and use for free!  Very nice.  There also was a little island just off the path that is filled with foliage and overlooks the river, it also has nice little hammock like things that you can lie in and and read or sleep!  (Hello where is all this in Elk Grove, I'm wondering)  People also sat along the river and had a picnic or hung out with friends to watch the sun go down on the Sein River.  It was a side of Paris you'd really never expect.

After that, we were all starving, so we found our way back to the streets by the Eiffel Tower park and sat down in a nice little cafe.  FOOD OVERVIEW: I got a mushroom and potato omelet (etchampignons et pommes de terre omelte), Tony got a ham and cheese omelet (jambon et fromage omelte), My dad got boef bourguignonne, and my mom got French onion soup (soupe a l'oignon francaise).  After dinner, we headed over to the canal boat tour, we'd timed it so we could get on the canal boat right as it started to get dark so we'd get to see the city of lights actually lit up.  It was beautiful!  We were pretty exhausted after the tour ended though so we headed home through the lit up streets and got to see the sparkling Eiffel Tower.  We did, however, get hopelessly lost and had to ask for directions.  We made it home though and soon all fell asleep.  It was a full, very nice day.

Thank you for reading!

-Sophia :)

I made a friend on our walk!

In front of the Louvre

Yes, the crowds were somewhat ridiculous.

But it was worth it.  Very cool.

A giant glass pyramid is in the center of the huge museum square 

A little community garden/hang out room we found

Everyone enjoying the Seine River

On the canal cruise 

Local Parisians enjoying the gorgeous sunset 

Can you even handle the prettiness?  I cannot even.