LA part two

We slept in pretty late on Wednesday as we didnt make it in until about 3am from huntingdon and decided wed chill out for a little bit and then go with Gem after hed finished her lectures at lunchtime to Malibu for a bit of sunning... The weather sort of turned though and it was a lot windier and more clouds in the sky. Being optimistic we all wore bikinis and took our sunbathing towels. We drove up the coast on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and we found on another blog a recommendation to go to Malibu County Mall, which apparently was where all the locals (we read celebs here) hang out so we were very excited!! It was kind of like an outdoor shopping centre, like Bicester Village or something, which lots of designer stuff...obviously all to heavy and expensive for our backpacks! We found ourselves a cheap little mexican place to grab some lunch, i think it was a chain - chipotle - but very nice and about £5 for the Tacos i had, bargin!

We went into one shop to just have a goosey and chatted to the store assistant who said we should go to Paradise Cove of we wanted a gorgeous beach...so off we toddled! When B and I had gone to Califorbia lots of people had told us about this beach and we hadnt managed to stop on our trip, so I was quite excited. We got there and the sign said it was a private beach and parking was $3 an hour plus a $30 validation in the little cafe...expensive!!!

We wandered down to the beach and found that it was f***ing chilly, the wind had really picked up and because its a cove the sun was almost behind the cliffs so it was quite shady, a bit of a disappointment really... The cafe looked really kitch though and would have been amazing on a beautiful hot day... Rows of deck chairs and big double bedloungers all facing the sea! But then we spotted a commotion which made our trip turb very exciting!

We saw loads of people standing down the beach a bit with a gino boom box and cameras and a gurl fannying about with not very many clothes on! Obviously we went over to get a better look at what was going on and started talking to one of the crew, who told us they were shooting a commercial for the True Religion jeans company...cool huh?! We stood and watched for a little bit but christ the model loved herself far too much and we were all jelous of her non cellulity thighs so we went and found our own spot to sit and chill in... They only trapsed half way down the beach following up and set up the next shoot right in the middle of us... Considerate, hey we were here first! Al was messing about with her toes in the sea and they basically chased after her and hauled her out because she was "doing it deliberately to ruin the shot background" I mean seriously has noone in LA heard that the sea if for paddling in, not actually just for taking pictures in front of! So we werent impressed ans decided to walk down the other way and see sone of the houses nestled into the cliffs... Multi-million easily! AND THEN THEY CHASED AFTER US AGAIN!!! Seriously get a life, didnt they know how to use photoshop to wipe out other people on the beach that theyd been to tight to actually book for the day... Nobs! So we decided wed try our luck with the parking attendant and see if hed let us out for free as wed only been there about twenty minutes and been chased out of the sea... Al and kate were sent fixed with their best smiles and english accents and yep we got out for free! Screw you True Religion!!

We had a quiet one on Wednesday evening, we went to Ralphs, mine and Bs favorite supermarket (kind of like a really fresh and cheaper waitrose) and stocked up on the vino and went home and chatted and snoozed all evening...beautiful! We packed up all our stuff too and sat on the internet looking for something to do on our last day. In the end we settled on going to Hollywood Walk of Fame and looking at all the Hollywood stars on the floor.

Al drove Verve to Hollywood and we parked up and wandered to Hollywood Blvd.l, quickly stealing wi-fi when we walke past Starbies! We saw some cool famous names on the stars, Audrey Hepburn, the Olsen twins and Keanu Reaves and when we got to the Hollywood and Highland Centre, which is like a big courtyard with shops and resturants surrounding it, we saw all the dressed up cartoon charactors... Minnie mouse and Donald duck, Spiderman, Star wars people etc, but they were all kind of freaky and sooo rude! I didnt get this part of the Hollywood experience, they, the costume charactors would say hello an ask if you wanted a picture and whee your from, politely wed say hello, no thank you and London and theyd respond with 'f***ing english b****es' WOAHHH?! I just dont want a picture mate thats all!! Crazy stuff! Across the road we spotted a second commotion and got very excited as we could see lots of real paparatzzi, distingushed by their overextended guts hanging over their trousers and the foldout step that they all carry to get a better picture, by being raised...but they all have them, so theyre all about a foot above everyone else yet still jostling for the best shot! Weirdos!

Anyway, we had stumbled across the end of a press conference for the new James Bond film Skyfall and both the baddie (penelope cruizs hubby apparently) and the bond girl (antoinette or something) were just coming out, having their snaps taken and signing autographs. Clearly the peole who were actually close were those whod gotten up and ridiculous o clock and waited on the off chance of seeing someone famous, and we were right at the back and it took us about ten mins to work out who we were looking at, but then we were standing right by their get away cars!!! So they both walked right past us! The bond girl looked absolutely stunning in a white lace dress, we were all swooning as she went past... We knew she was coming because all the paps camera shutters were going crazy taking pictures! All very exciting and we went and had lunch buzzing!!

We decided we couldnt leave America without having a big juicy burger before we became veggies for the rest of the trip... Weve heard that chicken in asia is more oftern than not dog...YUCK! So we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and had cocktails and burgers which were yummy, if a teeny bit pricey, $30 each for dinner and drink, but f*** it!

Lunch was quite slow and all of a sudden our carparking time was about to run out and we had to hotfoot it about ten blocks to get there so we went outside and it was raining cats and dogs so Al managed to hail a cab which we jumped in but he wasnt happy about taking us such a short distance so wouldnt even turn the meter on and plucked a figure out of mid air, b******!

We hit mega traffic on the way home, we did everyday but wed left earlier from Hollywood to deliberately avoid it...rush hour seems to be between about 3-8pm so really difficult to avoid it completely! It took us nearly two hours to do a 35min drive :/ Americans have a weird way of driving on freeways... At every corner they break so much that they come to a standstill which ripples backwards through the traffic which results in a hell of a lot of stop-starting and one very pissed off Livy. I think i was shouting drive properly at some point! We were stationary on a seven lane road...i mean seriously whats that about?!

It was a very quick turnaround for us as we had to het back through the traffic to the airport in an hour...cutting it fine to say the least! Phones were put on charge, last minute wees were had and we all piled back into Verve to look at more brake lights in the dark, joy!

It was sad leaving Gemma at the airport and moving on from LA, as i was just beginning to feel settled and getting accustomed to the new time difference! My body is going to be crazy when we get to Fiji next because we fly over the date line and everything so we loose a day and the time difference is gino!

Sending lots of love to Gem and the Knoxville Rd girls for letting us stay and we all had an amazing time and enjoy the rain youve got coming (haha!)

Happy travels, Lula xoxo