Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum - many different forms) is a classic paver groundcover under these conditions, is tolerant of considerable foot traffic and is native to your area. And it prefers very well-draining and rather lean soil, so requires no additional soil other than what is surrounding the roots of any starts you may purchase - it will grow perfectly well in sand. Here is a link that might be useful: creeping thyme - Thymus serpyllum

Having installed many paver walks over the years, IMO the best one is the one you like the looks of. The folks over on the landscape forum like to use seconds or whatever they can find cheap. The secret to a good paver job is careful site prep. Also, shoveling snow is a APITA with many pavers. I haven't had much trouble with the blower though. IMO pavers look funny with most old houses; but, I'm not liking my brick walks any better. Anything other than concrete is hard to shovel and the more cracks/joints you have, the more weeds you get.

I need pictures

Thanks. But I went with Rinox sky grey for the interlock and coping. The quadra 32x32 slab. I chose them because they are a light grey with a little bit (about 20%) of beige and I wanted them to blend with the beige stucco of our house. And they are light but not so light that they will need to be sealed and will stain easily (we want low maintenance!) and we will accent them with a bit of black with a fire table, furniture, cabana … etc. . Our pool is fairly dark (it’s called storm grey or graphite grey) so I wanted contrast between the coping and the pool, which we wouldn’t have had if we had used coping in a darker colour. Pool is in and the stone will be laid tomorrow!