Shopaholic

Well we battened the hatches, locked the doors and hopped on a train to Paris.  The weather was looking too rough to cross the sea of Biscay and I'm a bit thankful. Before we left mom scoured the sites to find a nice little apartment and when I say little I mean little. 5m by 3 1/2 meters - shoebox with a tiny little ladder leading up to a loft. It's alright though haha we didn't spend much time in it anyways. The first day we walked the streets of Paris where every building is different and unique in it's own way. They are all just so gorgeous and detailed! We saw the Eiffel Tower and after some serious discussion we decided not to go up. The line would have taken all day long! We walked all the way to the Notre Dame cathedral and had a little visit inside. I'm not a religious person but this almost made me change my mind. It is a gorgeous church filled with mosaics and sculptures. On the outside the details in the architecture is UNBELIEVABLE. I can defiantly see why it took 200 years to build! We grabbed a bite to eat at a cute little Paris restaurant and headed home to our shoebox for the night. 

The next morning we set out to see everything and well it's pretty hard to do that on foot so we 

hopped on a tour bus. It turned out to be a very good idea because we got to see everything including The Arc Of Triumph, The Thinker or as Alex likes to call it...The Stinker, the most beautiful bridge in Paris and many many more famous things. By that time it was about lunch time so we went back to the shoebox for lunch. Mom did some research for cheap vintage stores in Paris because I mean how could you not go shopping when in Paris! These shops turned out to be FAN-FRICKING-TASTIC! THE CLOTHES WE BOUGHT WERE ALL FANTASTIC AND DESIGNER! What's the total your asking? 41 euro's!!!!!! This may be a bad thing but I think I get a rush out of buying things....uh oh. Oh I forget to tell you this but with our tour bus package we got a boat tour of the Seine. We met the boys at home and walked down to the Eiffel tower.We got on our boat and as we were flowing down the river through magical Paris I thought...wow how many kids my age get to do this. I mean I am pretty damn lucky! It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day in Paris.

Today we decided to go see the Mona Lisa in the worlds biggest museum...I know what your thinking...oh-my-god a day in hell. It took a 1km long lineup to get to the security check and then ANOTHER line up to get our tickets!!!!! AHHH! We finally got inside and I have to say and I know this may be wrong but guys...I kind of enjoyed it! The paintings in there were very very amazing. The only art gallery I've ever been to was the AGO in Toronto and that is all modern art. The stuff we were looking at here was dated back to the 1400s, pretty cool. Dad had to leave at about 2:30 for work related stuff, so mom, Alex and I went and looked at the ancient Egyptian stuff and then thought we would go enjoy a walk through the Paris streets. The whole time we were in Paris we have had people telling us to beware of pickpockets. Mom being...well mom thought that she could point out all of the pickpockets on the street and was basically pointing out anyone who looked a bit on the rough side. We were all laughing and joking and decided to take a seat and get our bearings. Mom went and looked around the corner of this courtyard wall and I saw a man walk by me and kind of check out our backpack. I soon realized it was a pick pocket when I saw him reach out on to the bare ground and pull a gold ring out of his sleeve. He then asked mom if she had dropped it and tried to reach for her bag she jumped away and told the man to keep walking. We then followed him for a few blocks and saw that he did that to every passer by! I really enjoyed Paris and hope that one day I can come back again. Now were off to Normandy to see Juno beach and I'm really looking forward to that. VIVA LA FRANCE!

12 duffle bags

Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine all four of us with our four massive duffle bags and 8 medium sized ones pilled high on two trolleys. We had just gotten off the airplane in Paris and were now fairly confused about what to do next. I dont know why but I don't think that the fact that everyone spoke french in Paris really sank in until we got off the plane. So here we are rushing throughout the airport following dad because he seemingly knew what to do. We finally hit a point where the 2 carts holding are 12 duffle bags cant go any further and we have to carry them all the way to this jam-packed shuttle train that will take us to the next terminal. Keep in mind that all of has have maybe slept two hours that day and it may be day time in france but in Toronto it sure as hell wasn't. We finally make it too the car rental place and everything feels like its falling into place. We are driving away from the airport and life is good until we see a exit saying exactly where we want to go drifting into the distance. The next thing you know we are stuck in the middle of downtown paris rush hour traffic. oh god. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was mom asking a weird french man in a hippie van for directions. When I woke up we were no where near paris and somewhere in the french country side. Everyone was calm and happy(thank god). We finally made it to Les Sables got on the boat and oh my fricking god it is FANTASTIC!!!!!!! We went out for dinner tonight and had crepes,muscles,fries and creme boule. We came back home watched and episode of chuck and went to sleep. Its like we never left. I got up very early in the morning this morning and watched as the sun came up over the horizon. It was the perfect sunrise for the start of a perfect day. 

The Unknown

As I stare out my window at the CN tower a lot of things enter my mind. I realize that life is a book and my life goal is to read every single page. My life on my old boat Artemo was one chapter and before that another. This year in Toronto was a whole chapter. Although some may call one year a short amount of time too be a chapter so much has happened too fill those pages. 

I started a new school with new friends, got a puppy, I turned 13, both my aunt and uncle got married, we bought a new boat and sososo much more.  As soon as the plane to France takes off the chapter called "our new life in Toronto" ends and the new chapter "our new life on Salty Ginger" begins.  Even though I will come back to this lovely place that Toronto is, it will never be the same. After experiencing what we will have experienced is will have changed our personality a bit and most defiantly our out look on life. Our friends will have changed too. You may think that in a year your relationship with your friends doesn't change but really when your all in different places experiencing different  things that shape you to who you are you change a lot.  

As I stare out this window at this massive skyscraper piercing up into the sky's of my home, the massive size of the journey we are about to embark on hits me like a fist to the gut and I am overwhelmed with emotion.  I feel every different kind of emotion there is. Scared, happy, excited, anxious, stressed, sad and maybe even a bit of jealousy for those who get to experience the first bit of high school.  

I realize that I love this feeling! Its the feeling of the unknown. The unknown is what makes people do what they do. Try new things and experience life. Life is a wonderful thing and all you have to do is go out there and live it.

First Blog!

Hi!

Well this is my life! I travel place to place with my family on a sail boat (usually). When I was 10 we left on our first trip to sail around the world.  We took a plane to Antigua got on a boat and over three years made our way to New Zealand. Meeting many people who touched my family and my life along the way.

After that long time crammed on a boat with my brother, mom and dad we...well lets just say we were ready to get back to our house and go to school instead of being home schooled. We went home got a dog, settled down and I finished my grade 8 year while my brother finished his 10th. By the end of the year all of us were itching to get back on the water and see more of the world. So we all sat down and discussed this. In our family it's either all in or all out. Luckily after a week of mulling it over everyone was in with the plan. We bought a boat, packed up our stuff and well....guess what?

We leave to Europe in less than a week!!!! Our brand new boat is waiting for us in Les Sables, France! We are going for six months to tour Spain, Portugal and France. Then we will sail across the Atlantic to Antigua! Man I'm getting excited!!!!!

Till next time:)