jiggy said:

I'm angling for a new role at work which will be entirely web-based. If I can pull it off (currently about a 50% possibility) I'm seriously thinking about moving to Berlin as a base and also doing loads of driving round Europe this summer. As long as I always have a rock-solid internet connection wherever I go I should be OK.

But yeah, as Doc says, enjoy the drive and take loads of photos and post them up here

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That's my plan Jiggy! I'm a freelance writer and can work from anywhere that has a good Internet connection (or a not-so-good one if desperate!) Longer term plan after my son doesn't need me any more (another six years) is to work and travel

Will def take lots of pics!

CasaPaulo said:

As a well travelled person (I know I looked at your Flickr) and very good pixs they are too, you may be aware that the Ferry people wake you up at a unearthly hour minus 1. I bathed my lips with booze til late and was then awoken too few hours later at 5am (UK time) for disembarking by 7pm Frog time. Other than that I'm jealous, especially of the Bruges bit. And of course I hope the weather is perfect for lidless motoring.

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Thanks Casa, yes, if I could make money at the photography that's what I'd be doing, but it's pretty competitive these days.

Have done the motor-rail to Avignon a couple of times and they wake you up at 5am, so have low expectations! Plus we all got woken up in the middle of the night last time 'cos there was a burglar on board who had stowed away in one of the toilets and was stealing things from people's cabins while they slept. Had the Gendarmerie and allsorts on board!

silverbarchetta said:

You will have a great time I took my b on a camping trip around Europe a couple of years ago calling in at Paris, Monaco, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Cologne. Had an amazing time.

Great photos btw

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Thanks! Yes, have done a few trips before but always in boring cars. Usually take my sis and my son so need the extra seat! Have been all through France to the South, into Switzerland (also lost Swiss road tax sticker due to subsequent broken windscreen Zem!) and right down through Italy to Tuscany. Also drove to Munich once to the Oktoberfest so know what German roads are like

LittleRedB said:

Superb photo's!!

I am just 'getting into' photography and am still very much wearing L plates........

What camera do you use (I assume more than 1!!), how do you get the lighting effects and the misty movement in the water? FIlters and shutter speed I guess..............?

I keep toying with the idea of enrolling in a course for beginners at the local Uni.

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Thanks! Did the Millau Bridge last Summer. Wow, what an amazing thing. Your pics are MUCH better than mine Sadly, after a fab week of weather in the South and then Carcassonne (another amazing palce) the cloud hit us and we went over the bridge in thick mist and rain. Must go back in the sun.

On photography, I'm not a real purist, so no digital SLR, but I do have a rather nice Fuji S9500. Have always had Fujis and they have been great, so would recommend. Just got my boyfriend a Fuji S8000 for Xmas and that seems really good too. Full manual override, huge zoom and still quite little. The only disadvantage over mine is that you can't put filters on it, and whilst I'm not into filters to get fancy effects or colour changes, and I do like to use a Polarising filter as you get better contrast.

The reason I didn't go for the full SLR is that I like to take the camera everywhere, and with this I just have the one lens that does everything, but if I had an SLR I'd need to carry at least two others around with me to get the same zoom! 'Real' photographers would call me a heathen

As to how I got the effects, just lucky with the light I guess! And messing about with shutter speeds and depth of field. Don't tend to do anything fancy . . . send me a message if you'd like to chat more!

nicholasb said:

Congratulations on the new hood as well. Its such an upgrade on the original PVC. I didn't want to take the hood down after I had mine fitted.

I want to take my B over to France later in the year. Nice car for a road trip.

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Know exactly what you mean! She's not back on the road 'til the beginning of March but I've got her on the drive without the cover on just so I can look at it

Ah, you must have been out there about the same time as us, 1 week fo fantastic weather and one week of poo weather (the very week that the UK bathed in sun!!).....

Carcassonne, wow - what a place, really breathtaking but full of bloody tourists!!

I will drop you a PM, I bought a Nikon D40 last year and am 'getting to grips' with it, I have been playing with depth of photo, shutter speeds etc, totally agree on the filters, I have a UV on when its not sunny and a polarizing filter on sunny days...........

That would be the one! Think it was around the 8th August or thereabouts? Yes, Carcassonne very touristy, but amazing anyway We had the first day in gorgeous sun, very hot and then by the evening of the second day it had gone all hazy, and it never really recovered after that!

Will look out for your PM, and fish out some of my efforts on the photography front in Carcassonne . . .

My photographic efforts in Carcassonne! Before the weather went naff . . .

You put me to shame................

Nah . . . was just lucky with the weather!

No, you really put him to shame

Yep no point in having one of those spangly camera's if the user is naff

Bad lighting................

There's this expression I learned years ago.....

A bad workman always blames his tools......

You've obviously travelled to the continent quite a lot, so not trying to teach you to suck eggs (not suggesting you're a grandmother either). Honfleur is nice with quite a good selection of restaurants. If you're staying there self catering, there's a reasonable supermarket a 10 minute walk up the main street near the war memorial. Annecy is also very nice,especially the old town. The boat trip round the lake, supposedly the cleanest in Europe. The side of the lake that goes through Menton St. Bernard and Talloires is the nicest. Talloires has a newsagent if you're desperate for a British paper. Personally I can do without. It's only tiny (the village not the newsagent) but some of the hotels, especially Hotel le Lac serve excellent food. There is also a music festival on the lake there in August (I think). A little further along the lake is a camping site which may be called Camping Riva. Worth a visit for lunch. Especially because the Riva Aquarama Club de France has its base there and the restaurant has an interesting selection of photos showing various stars of the 50's & 60's who had owned them.
Bonne Vacances.

Might want to pass by Monaco and walk the track, if you're an F1 nut like me

Mad Matt said:

Might want to pass by Monaco and walk the track, if you're an F1 nut like me

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Fab idea, in fact change the tour so you do all of the European F1 circuits!! :idea:

The Beard said:

You've obviously travelled to the continent quite a lot, so not trying to teach you to suck eggs (not suggesting you're a grandmother either). Honfleur is nice with quite a good selection of restaurants. If you're staying there self catering, there's a reasonable supermarket a 10 minute walk up the main street near the war memorial. Annecy is also very nice,especially the old town. The boat trip round the lake, supposedly the cleanest in Europe. The side of the lake that goes through Menton St. Bernard and Talloires is the nicest. Talloires has a newsagent if you're desperate for a British paper. Personally I can do without. It's only tiny (the village not the newsagent) but some of the hotels, especially Hotel le Lac serve excellent food. There is also a music festival on the lake there in August (I think). A little further along the lake is a camping site which may be called Camping Riva. Worth a visit for lunch. Especially because the Riva Aquarama Club de France has its base there and the restaurant has an interesting selection of photos showing various stars of the 50's & 60's who had owned them.
Bonne Vacances.

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Thanks for all that! Spookily I went to Annecy in 2003 and stayed not only in Talloire but also in the Hotel le Lac. Very nice but yes, very small - and this time we plan to stay somewhere in the centre The boat trip was great too! Not been to Honfleur before but know people who rave about it so thought we'd include it.

Mad Matt said:

Might want to pass by Monaco and walk the track, if you're an F1 nut like me

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Would be great Matt, but don't think we'll make it that far this time! Seems like an excuse to go South again soon . . .

Well, you can't do everything in one trip!

Brugge is quite pretty and relaxing. You need to allow a day to wander around if the weather is good.

Brussels is nice in a different way, but it depends on what you want to see.

You could of course leave Belgium via the Eastern side and pop-in at Spa!