Honeymoon at Champs Le Sims - Part Five, Paparazzi, They Get Everywhere

It was dusk by the time Ambrose and Ginny arrived back at Base Camp. They were both feeling hungry and Ambrose needed to grab a quick shower.

Due to Ambrose inviting a minor celebrity to his bachelor party, somehow, along the way, he'd gained a little notoriety and fame .. and one celebrity star point. Which meant that he was a prime target for the paparazzi. Even more so now, whilst he and Ginny were on vacation. They were camped out at Base Camp when the newlyweds arrived back from the Nectary.

One, a young woman by the name of Zoe Lefevre, was lurking around the enclosed garden at the rear.



The other one, namely a Florence Desrosiers, was pretending to play chess, just waiting for Ambrose and Ginny to arrive back.




Ignoring them, Ginny headed straight for the communal kitchen to start dinner. The fridge was sparsely stocked, due to the fact that most guests ate out whilst they holidayed at Champs Le Sims. But she managed to rustle up a few veggies and stuff to make an Autumn Salad.




She thought she'd play it safe and go for something that wouldn't burn the kitchen down. but all the time she was cooking, she had the sudden cravings for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. If only there'd been some cheese, then maybe she could have made some for herself????




After Ambrose's shower, he got a call from one of his bachelor party buddies, asking him how he was enjoying his honeymoon.




"Bloody brilliant," Brosie enthused, "Champs Le Sims is everything I'd dreamed of. The locals are friendly, and we've already visited the Nectary today."




He failed to mention the fact that he'd taken ill there, as that was none of anybody's business, except for those folks who'd actually been there.

"Dinner's ready!" Ginny shouted from the kitchen.

"Be right there honey! Gotta go, catch up with you soon."

Too hungry to wait, Ginny had already made a start on her meal and was clearing away her plate when Brosie sat down to have his.





"When you're ready," she said, wiping her hands on the tea towel, "fancy a game of chess with me?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," came the reply.

So, they sat down together, pondering over the pieces on the board, trying to figure out what move to make next.




They found themselves getting really tired at about 9:30pm, which was quite early for these two. But, because of the activities and the long haul flight getting there, exhaustion had finally caught up with them.






They made their way to bed, too tired to get up to any mischief and promptly fell into a deep sleep. Whilst they dreamed of building blocks and planting some seeds.....




........ they didn't hear the soft creak of their room door opening, nor the gentle padding of sneakers across the floor.




They were to exhausted to notice a long shadow cast across the bed as a member of the paparazzi stood there, Zoe no less, her camera in hand, taking pictures of the slumbering couple.





Neither were they aware that the same Zoe, determined to grab the latest scoop on this 'celebrity couple', was taking down notes on her clipboard,




before silently vanishing out into the night.......

Honeymoon at Champs Le Sims - Part Four, the Nectary (cont.)

Ambrose dashed to the bathroom, his stomach churning.

"Damn!" he groaned as he hurtled full speed towards the toilet, "I should have stuck with lemonade. What a honeymoon this turned out to be."




Noelle grabbed a glass full and sipped it down.

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that," Ginny suggested helpfully, "especially if it's a bad batch."



"Oh, I must insist," Noelle replied, "I cannot possibly let this be sold without having tasted it myself. That's bad business!"

"If you insist."

Ginny watched helplessly as more people turned up to sip the wines.





She hoped and prayed that they wouldn't target the plasma one, but it appeared they all made a beeline for it and gulped it down. Including the rather snooty and unhelpful Jolene.



In the bathroom, Ambrose hurled up everything he'd eaten and drank for that day, which wasn't much really, then proceeded to splash his face and brush his teeth.



"Can't possibly go out there," he thought to himself, "with puke breath. Not nice at all."

He came out slowly, feeling a little shaky and nauseous, his skin paler than normal.



"You okay sweetie?" Ginny asked gently.

"Um, I think so."



Ginny reached into her handbag and brought something out.

"Try this," she said helpfully, "I always keeps some handy ... you know ... just in case."

She grabbed a clean glass from the shelf, went over to the sink and ran some cold water into it. Then she poured the powder in, stirring it up with a handy spoon and handed it to Ambrose, who'd decided his safest option was to sit down. He drank it in several sips.




"Feeling better?"

"Yes thanks, what was in that? It tasted weird."

She leaned in and whispered in his ear.




"It's an old family trick," she said quietly, "works every time. Never failed yet."

She turned to Noelle.

"I always carry these around with me," she explained, "just in case. I think I've got plenty to go around here, but I suggest that you get rid of that batch of nectar you've already bottled up and check the rest of the stock, to make sure none of it's contaminated."




"How can I thank you?" Noelle beamed, obviously happy at Ginny's suggestions, "we put so much time and money into this new brand."

"Oh, I can only imagine."

"Is there anything we can do for you to make your time here more enjoyable?"

"Um, well....."




"We can give you a discount at the store ..... plus, if you wish, you may purchase some of our rarer grapes to take home with you. That way you can have some much better memories of your stay here!"

"Oh that's lovely, thank you."

"Just speak to Elliott at the counter and he'll only be too happy to oblige."

"Wouldn't that put a big dent in your profits?"

"Oh don't worry about that, discovering a bad batch of nectar and stopping it from being sold wholesale, is doing us a HUGE favour. Can you imagine the thousands of Simoleans lost, and the family name being dragged through the mud with court cases and illness claims???? This is nothing compared to what COULD have happened."

"Can I be cheeky and ask for something else too?"




"Sure, anything."

"The 'pink champagne well' ..... is it true?"

Noelle laughed and handed Ginny a key.




"Go check for yourself."

"So it's true?"




"You'll see."

"But please excuse me," Noelle cut in, "I'd better head off to the bathroom, I'm not feeling so good. You were right, we need to pull that brand of nectar immediately."




With that, she dashed off in the same direction as Ambrose had headed not an hour ago.




Ginny and Ambrose took off towards the back of the building, to the vats and fruit presses. Ambrose stopped dead and gasped.

"Hey Ginny," he said, awestruck, "I think I've found it."




Sure enough, behind a fence and heavily padlocked gates, they found a well that had shimmering pink liquid bubbling up inside it. Ambrose gave a low whistle.

"Talk about your 'best kept secrets'," he said, shaking his head, "this one just has to be the coolest!"

Ginny wandered towards one of the presses and paused, deep in thought.

"Say Brosie?" she said rubbing her chin, "do you think we could try this at home? Make our very own nectar using whatever we've got around the town?"




"I can't see why not?" he replied, "it'll make for interesting parties....."

They grinned at one another.

"Let's go get us some grapes then and take them home."

So, the two of them went outside into the enclosure and started picking the grapes.




"Do you suppose they'd mind if we picked a variety?" Ginny asked, pausing over a vine of luscious light yellow/green grapes.




"Don't think so," came the reply, "as long as we leave plenty for everybody else."

It was mid afternoon, going into early evening when they finally finished their grape picking and already they were feeling hungry. So, Ginny decided to enter the shop.




There, she saw another pair of tourists mulling over the selection of nectar that was available, and hoped that none of it was from that batch of bad stuff they were tasting downstairs. She didn't want to alarm them, so she approached the counter where a young man was manning the cash register.

"Are you Elliott?" she asked.

"Oui, I am he," he replied smiling, "ah, you must be the young lady my wife was telling me about. Just let me know what you need and I'll see what I can do for a discount."




"I'm looking for some advice really, there were some lovely grapes outside but I couldn't tell you what they were."

"Ah, the Cranerlet Nuala, perfect for red nectar, Cherimola Blan, that's a light sweet grape, ideal for white nectar, the Meloire is a rich heady grape that's more suited for our vintages, and the Renoit is our own special breed of grape that we nurtured ourselves."

"Interesting, but can I ask you ..... could we grow any of these back home?"



"But of course, if you nurture them well, give them the right fertilizers and the perfect conditions, they should all give you a sizeable crop, year in year out."

"How about making my own nectar? How do I go about that?"

"Oh, there's nothing more rewarding than making your own. It's a matter of your own personal taste though. What appeals to some, however, doesn't to others. But there are plenty of books around that'll help you along. And if you're particularly interested, we could order you your very own nectar making machine ... at a vastly reduced price. Just because of your help."

"Ohh, I'd like one of those, thanks."

With that, Ginny purchased some more grapes that weren't in the enclosure, and ordered the nectar making machine.

"It'll be delivered to you, right to your doorstep. I just hope you've got plenty of room and a decen sized basement for your new hobby."

"Thank you for your help."

"No, my dear, thank YOU!"

After that, they both headed back to base camp.