Honeymoon Mixup

Prior to leaving for Shang Simla, Shannon had left an envelope for Sophie and Drea. On the front it read ....

A little gift to the two of you. It's somewhere you (Sophie) have always wanted to go to. Make sure your passports and visas are in order. Everything is all organised. See you when I get back.

Love ... Mum

Excitedly, Sophie ripped open the envelope, expecting tickets, but was left with a cryptic note that simply said ...

Arrive at airport for 2:15 pm. Just bring your passports and luggage.

Sophie frowned. Hmm. Odd? But between her and Drea, they managed to pack a few things for the trip. She'd always dreamed and wished to go to Champs Le Sims. The romance, the culture. The nectar!

Whilst Shannon had been away, they'd been keeping house and ... busying themselves with other ... *ahem* 'pursuits'!

Poor Drea can't even get a minute's peace from working at the potions table, before Sophie is enticing him away for a bit of WooHoo!

The main one was the all in one bathroom. That ... was a firm favourite for this amorous couple. Much to the horror of poor Pat who was forced to watch ... each and every time they disappeared behind that door.

Pat: I hate my life.

Well, Pat. You should have attempted to improve your relationship with Sophie, got yourself humanized and this wouldn't be happening to you now, would it?

Speaking of building relationships .... try as they may, they simply could not break through that shell that timid little Hespa had built around herself. Mealtimes were especially awkward as it always ended up with everyone eating in total and awkward silence. Even with Shannon returned from her trip, things were still fairly tense.

Hespa had gotten herself a job in the Business Park and everyone wanted to know how she was getting on. But ... it was like pulling teeth. They weren't sure whether she was enjoying what she was doing. Or not. She simply clammed up and retreated!

On another note, despite the weather, a Simfest was being held and Sophie wanted to check it out. After all, she wanted to continue her career and needed to know what the competition was like.

It sucked.

The snow was ankle deep and the acts were abysmal. The proprietor had to call the whole thing off because it was becoming too dangerous to perform there. It was a shame Sophie couldn't compete. Simply because she didn't have enough experience under her belt. Soo ... she'll have to live with Sing a Grams for a bit longer.

Anyways, time was moving onwards and soon their impromptu and surprise honeymoon was coming up fast. Excited, they left for the airport, glad to see the back of the horrific weather conditions. Hopped on board the plane ....

.... and ended up in ......

..... Shang Simla.

Both Sophie and Drea's faces fell as they looked at the rugged, mountainous landscape.

Sophie: This .... isn't Champs Le Sims. We haven't even packed for this climate.

Drea: This  ... sucks.
Sophie: Now what?
Drea: Well, we have two options. Stay and make the most of it, or get the first flight home.

Sophie picked up her phone and paused, frowning. The fate of this honeymoon mixup was in her hands.

Two choices. Home or stay?

Chapter Seventy Three - Bonjour et Bienvenue à Champs Le Sims

.......... or in other words, hello and welcome to Champs Le Sims, where the weather is always bright and sunny and the locals are most welcoming!

Both William and Sophie arrived at Base Camp, where they decided to spend some time together (or at least Wills was going on his mother's orders to be a chaperone and make sure Sophie wouldn't get up to any kind of mischief)

They visited the local store, where she bought the proverbial incense holder - simply because she was told that this was the 'in thing' at the moment and it'd make all her school friends sooooo jealous to see that this one came from France.

Whilst she was there, she got the attention of a local, who was very keen on wanting to get to know Sophie.
So, she took this opportunity to ask the woman a load of cultural questions.... saying that she needed to know french history for a school project.

Noelle was quite happy to tell her everything she knew about this region of Champs Le Sims, and soon, they got along like a house on fire!! So much so that Noelle even made special arrangements for Sophie and her brother to visit the museum before everyone else!!

Wow, just look at those blinds. How cool are those?

So, taking the opportunity, Sophie hopped onto her newly purchased Kenspa and  took off to the museum, on her own.

Wills followed, but got bored rigid and went back to base camp to play chess.
Um, I don't think he's taking his role as chaperone too seriously. Don't you?

Are you kidding? She can take care of herself, she can't get into too much mischief now can she?
Wills, you ought to remember who she is the daughter of.
And I'm from the same stock 'o great goddess'.

Point taken.

Anyways, hunger got the better of Sophie, so she returned to base camp, where she decided to cater for everybody there, including the locals and the tourists.

Whatcha cooking?
Um, dunno really. Don't fancy burning the place down just yet. Whatcha recommend?
How many cooking skill points do you have?
Um, none.
Autumn salad. Can't go wrong with that.
Yes you can, you can slice off a finger!
Well, just be careful with the knife then.
O-kay.

And so she stood, chopping local fresh produce to make into a tossed salad.

Mmm, looks good.
I got a skill point just for that!
Well done! Chop off any fingers?
Nope.
Excellent!
Hope everyone likes it.
I'm sure they will.

After dinner, Sophie got bored. It was getting pretty dark outside by now, and it was still too early for them to retire to bed just yet. Besides, I think Wills superglued his butt to the chair, as he didn't even budge when Sophie called everyone to dinner.

Wills?
Yeah?
I'm bored. Play catch with me.
It's dark out there.
Don't care, wanna play catch.

*sigh* Fine, if you insist, but don't blame me if we lose the ball in the dark.
YAY!!!!

And that's what they did until Wills stomach started growling and Sophie desperately needed to pee.

Soon it was bedtime, and they retired to bed in the shared dormitory, whilst one of the tourists decided to tell those folks who were still wide awake ..... a ghost story!!!!

Wide awake the next day, Sophie suddenly decides she wants to talk to her twin sister Vanessa and be BFFs with her. So I dutifully oblige, since she had a spare space in her wishes boxes.

Hi sis, how's home? Same old same old? Oh, Champs Le Sims? Awesome. Going to the Nectary today with Wills. Nah, I'm not old enough to drink, so I won't be tasting any nectar. I promise. See ya, byes!

Sooo, whilst Sophie organised her trip to the Nectary, Wills decided to pay a visit to the local coffee shop and ordered Crepes for breakfast.

Crepes being his favourite food btw, he looks so happy there!

Sophie in the meantime, decided to help pick the grapes and other fruits around the orchard and vineyard, whilst Wills finally arrived at the Nectary and placed an order for a nectar making machine!!! Delivery as soon as they get home.

He tried to help Sophie pick fruit, but ended up talking to the trees!! (as you do)

They spent a full day at the Nectary, which meant that because of the remote location, it would have been very late for them to get back to base camp. So they spent the night at the nectary.

But just before they went to bed, they had a go at making some nectar, by wading barefooted in the vats!!

Wills was out  like a light. Sophie, however, had other ideas.
Instead of sleeping, she took a nap because she planned on going fishing before 6am.

Since there was no curfew as such, she could easily do this without any recriminations!!

And so she stayed by the bank of the Seine until the sky turned a beautiful pinky/purple hue with the arrival of the sun!

It was about 6:30am by the time Sophie arrived back at the nectary, and crashed straight out.

Wills, however, still buzzed about making nectar, decided to finish off the task by setting off both nectar makers.

Whilst the fruit was going through the whole brewing process, he decided to take it easy and take in a little sun.
Think there's something missing.

Oh yes, much better!

His nectar turned out just fine. Sophie's however, was vile, but he bottled and labelled it anyways.

It was their last day in Champs Le Sims, and they thoroughly enjoyed their stay. It was at this time that the zombies came out in full force.

One, getting a lot of attention from the locals!

Against her promise to her sister, Sophie DID try a nectar tasting session, and by the looks of it, she can't handle her wine!

Sophie, I think you need to aim the glass a little more to your left.... NOOO, your 'other' left!!!

Prior to that, she'd chosen ice cream for lunch!!

Sims have really odd tastes in food, don't they?