Solo Euro Hoon. Car, Guitar, Drone!!!
Discussion
Another solo trip into Europe!
I'll post up anything of interest as I go, I'll drop it if it runs out of steam and gets boring.
Bit of a technology theme to this years, got some new stuff!
Firstly the car, I'm going in this barking mad thing:
Now I know the 720S is roundly despised by most PH's on account of it being as ugly as a Warthog with a neck tattoo but for me it's USP is the handling and performance, It's always being described as "explosive" and "supremely sure footed" etc etc etc so it's that side of things I'm about to explore.
It's supposed to be comfortably quicker than my previous 650S which frankly was pretty insane so it should be fun.
I'm meticulous about running cars in and this only has 600 miles on it so far so I haven't played rough with it at all yet!
I'm in a hotel room in Folkestone now and will be crossing at 4am, it's a long drive through to my first stop in France so it will be nicely settled in for the start of the trip.
Couple of days in Beaune, then on to the French Alps at Chamonix and the wonderful Mont Blanc, across to Italy and Lake Como, over to Lichenstien and somewhere I can't remember, then up into Bavaria at a beautiful hotel I've stayed at before near Hammelberg. After that it's somewhere near the German border (I have this all written down somewhere but the places escape me), then into Belgium for a couple of days winding down before coming back. Seventeen days in total.
The guitar is the same little Telecaster I took last year but the tech has moved on and I can now velcro my phone and a little box of tricks to the front of the guitar and have pretty much any sound I like. Stick a pair of ultra-light headphones on and while on the outside the guitar makes a tiny plinking noise which won't disturb anyone in my head I sound like the bloke from Metallica playing at the O2!
I can also stream anything from Spotify and play along to it, no leads to plug in either so I can stumble about in the hotel rooms having hours of fun.
Now yesterday I bought this:
It's a DJI Air with all the extra batteries and propellers and stuff.
I have absolutely no clue about using it, I've just charged it, done the updates and bundled it all away again. Blokes at work think I'll put it at the bottom of a river in no time, my best guess would be wedging at the top of a tree.
Apparently it can do all kinds of clever stuff and ultimately I'd like to get some footage of it panning down the Alps and over the car or something equally dramatic. I can't see it coming off though but it should be fun sodding about with it anyway. I'd really appreciate some advice from those on here who have droned before when the time comes.
I need to buy a micro SD card for it, what sort of capacity for recording footage? Would 32 Gig be enough? I'm taking a laptop with me so I can download anything that comes out alright onto that so the card doesn't have to last 2 weeks of filming.
Everything loaded into the car surprising well. Started with 6 inches of rags in the boot for cleaning duties:
Followed by all the bags and gubbins:
Guitar goes in the passenger seat nicely:
And I'm ready to go!
So, as I say, if it gets tedious I'll shelve it but I've had some good ones in the past and adding the drone in should keep it interesting.
I'll post up anything of interest as I go, I'll drop it if it runs out of steam and gets boring.
Bit of a technology theme to this years, got some new stuff!
Firstly the car, I'm going in this barking mad thing:
Now I know the 720S is roundly despised by most PH's on account of it being as ugly as a Warthog with a neck tattoo but for me it's USP is the handling and performance, It's always being described as "explosive" and "supremely sure footed" etc etc etc so it's that side of things I'm about to explore.
It's supposed to be comfortably quicker than my previous 650S which frankly was pretty insane so it should be fun.
I'm meticulous about running cars in and this only has 600 miles on it so far so I haven't played rough with it at all yet!
I'm in a hotel room in Folkestone now and will be crossing at 4am, it's a long drive through to my first stop in France so it will be nicely settled in for the start of the trip.
Couple of days in Beaune, then on to the French Alps at Chamonix and the wonderful Mont Blanc, across to Italy and Lake Como, over to Lichenstien and somewhere I can't remember, then up into Bavaria at a beautiful hotel I've stayed at before near Hammelberg. After that it's somewhere near the German border (I have this all written down somewhere but the places escape me), then into Belgium for a couple of days winding down before coming back. Seventeen days in total.
The guitar is the same little Telecaster I took last year but the tech has moved on and I can now velcro my phone and a little box of tricks to the front of the guitar and have pretty much any sound I like. Stick a pair of ultra-light headphones on and while on the outside the guitar makes a tiny plinking noise which won't disturb anyone in my head I sound like the bloke from Metallica playing at the O2!
I can also stream anything from Spotify and play along to it, no leads to plug in either so I can stumble about in the hotel rooms having hours of fun.
Now yesterday I bought this:
It's a DJI Air with all the extra batteries and propellers and stuff.
I have absolutely no clue about using it, I've just charged it, done the updates and bundled it all away again. Blokes at work think I'll put it at the bottom of a river in no time, my best guess would be wedging at the top of a tree.
Apparently it can do all kinds of clever stuff and ultimately I'd like to get some footage of it panning down the Alps and over the car or something equally dramatic. I can't see it coming off though but it should be fun sodding about with it anyway. I'd really appreciate some advice from those on here who have droned before when the time comes.
I need to buy a micro SD card for it, what sort of capacity for recording footage? Would 32 Gig be enough? I'm taking a laptop with me so I can download anything that comes out alright onto that so the card doesn't have to last 2 weeks of filming.
Everything loaded into the car surprising well. Started with 6 inches of rags in the boot for cleaning duties:
Followed by all the bags and gubbins:
Guitar goes in the passenger seat nicely:
And I'm ready to go!
So, as I say, if it gets tedious I'll shelve it but I've had some good ones in the past and adding the drone in should keep it interesting.
Edited by br d on Friday 25th May 16:08
Tickle said:
Insurancejon said:
can I have a link to the old thread please? will give me something to read during the night feed
Here is last years: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23...
Cheers for the heads up about the Beaune police. I've stayed there many times and not encountered it before but I'll take it on-board.
Beaune is a lovely town and a great jumping off point for driving in Europe. It's far enough down to get you near the action but not so far that it knackers you getting there.
I will be there Saturday afternoon in time to find a decent bar to watch the game in.
Thanks Justin great info!
I've driven straight down today so just crashed out and then going to watch the game so I'm not getting into the drone stuff till my heads a bit clearer.
Regarding the awful pic quality I struggle to tel good from bad - which doesn't bode well for the drone footage - but looking at the camera on my phone (Note 5) I notice that the glass sheet in front of the lens is smashed off! So that's probably not helping!
I mess around with it and see if I can make them a little better but I'm pretty limited with photography.
I've driven straight down today so just crashed out and then going to watch the game so I'm not getting into the drone stuff till my heads a bit clearer.
Regarding the awful pic quality I struggle to tel good from bad - which doesn't bode well for the drone footage - but looking at the camera on my phone (Note 5) I notice that the glass sheet in front of the lens is smashed off! So that's probably not helping!
I mess around with it and see if I can make them a little better but I'm pretty limited with photography.
chris116 said:
Proper eye-popping colour, must look great with some sun on it.
Thanks Chris.I actually wanted the Fistral Blue, its a really unusual colour and reminded me of my M3 which was Laguna Seca but Sharon my partner kept pitching for the yellow. There aren't enough of these things about to go and see one in a rare colour so you just have to go by the configurator on the PC and they don't really look right.
On the spec day Ben at McLaren sort of gently hinted that the Fistral Blue might be a little too far out there but I didn't have a back up plan so just went with Shal's choice.
When I saw the thing in the flesh I was so pleased, it is stunning and definitely the right pick.
Course the cars still pig ugly but you can't have everything!
Edited by br d on Saturday 26th May 16:18
I've got a Telecaster with me.
I normally play Gretsch's as I love Rockabilly and anything finger picking.
I have a lovely red 6120 Setzer and a Billy Duffy White Falcon in pride of place in the front room much to my other half's chagrin cos they don't match the decor!
I have a pic of them somewhere I'll dig it out.
Bringing them away with me is out of the question cos of value and also they are just too bloody big to fit in a sports car!
Here's the Tele with the phone and little amp converter thing attached.
This is such a brilliant set-up. It comes with 16 presets but you can edit in any sound you want, loads of effects and amp models.
Then I stick on a pair of headphones, get a couple of beers down and I can play along to anything via Spotify and completely lose myself without disturbing anyone.
I dont think you can get to hear it, not sure how I could record anything with this set-up.
I'm any okay player but I don't really play rock or anything immediately obvious to most people. I mainly play rockabilly, country, Chet Atkins type stuff. Very difficult to play but probably boring to your average listener.
I have completely weak finger nails which means I have to visit nail shops to get the three fingers in my right hand done every month or so, this is excruciating. Worse than getting a good kicking on a Saturday night believe me!
I normally play Gretsch's as I love Rockabilly and anything finger picking.
I have a lovely red 6120 Setzer and a Billy Duffy White Falcon in pride of place in the front room much to my other half's chagrin cos they don't match the decor!
I have a pic of them somewhere I'll dig it out.
Bringing them away with me is out of the question cos of value and also they are just too bloody big to fit in a sports car!
Here's the Tele with the phone and little amp converter thing attached.
This is such a brilliant set-up. It comes with 16 presets but you can edit in any sound you want, loads of effects and amp models.
Then I stick on a pair of headphones, get a couple of beers down and I can play along to anything via Spotify and completely lose myself without disturbing anyone.
I dont think you can get to hear it, not sure how I could record anything with this set-up.
I'm any okay player but I don't really play rock or anything immediately obvious to most people. I mainly play rockabilly, country, Chet Atkins type stuff. Very difficult to play but probably boring to your average listener.
I have completely weak finger nails which means I have to visit nail shops to get the three fingers in my right hand done every month or so, this is excruciating. Worse than getting a good kicking on a Saturday night believe me!
mattyn1 said:
Avidly following! Looks awesome fun..... though having your nails done?
Trust me Matt it is the worst half hour of my life. I tried for years to strengthen my own nails with all sorts of potions and products but it's hopeless. If I want to play I just have to bite the bullet and go into a nail bar.
It goes like this:
I walk in, sheepishly shuffle about by the door while everybody looks around. At this stage it isn't too bad because all the women in there think you're waiting for your wife.
I bask in this glorious invisibility for a while but it's no good, at some point I've got to man up and get my nails done!
At this point I normally do that pathetic "trying to attract somebody's attention" thing but of course they aren't expecting me to
be there for business so they just ignore me.
Then the crunch. In front of all the women I have to say loudly "Could I get my nails done please"
You may think we live in a happy clappy world where we are all comfortable in our own identity and nobody ever judges you but believe me at that point I might as well have 3 heads.
Perhaps I should get them done in Islington or somewhere rather than a provincial Essex commuter town.
Then when it finally sinks in I get invited to sit at a desk. You wouldn't believe how closely crammed together those desks are. Cheek by jowl with the girls either side.
At this point I always want to proclaim in a stentorian voice "It's for my guitar playing!" But I'm normally a beaten man by then and I just meekly point to what I want done and succumb.
And let me tell you your wives are suffering in there! They layer that stuff on and then stick your hand under a light and it's f
king hot! It really burns your fingers and if you try and sneakily move your hand away they shove it right back, no mercy.
The whole thing is pretty awful.
Edited by br d on Saturday 26th May 17:30
Oh my fecking word.
I drove it properly this morning.
Got up early and headed out of Beaune across country toward Dole via all the little villages.
These are wonderful driving roads , it's why I come to France, flat, fast with miles of visibility.
A perfect dry, bright morning and no one about.
As I was heading out Thriller came on and it seemed to fit so I put it on repeat and cranked it right up.
The first long straight I floored it.
fking hell this thing is quick!
I've never driven a proper racing car on a track but this must be what it feels like, it's just devastatingly fast. People always talk about being pinned in the seat and a lot of it is hyperbole but flooring this really does that, it's fking scary.
It hurtles out of bends and actually feels more planted the faster you go, on the long sighted sections I was absolutely flying. When I came over I set the Speedo to Kmh, I don't have the mental dexterity to convert the speeds in my head but a few times I glanced down it started with a 2.
Something happens on the dash when you're thrashing it, a bar of colour runs across, must be something to do with gear changes but I didn't want to keep my eyes on it because outside stuff was happening very quickly.
Michael was singing "You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it" and while white knuckling the steering wheel I thought you're not wrong there old son.
The air brake was slamming up and down in the rear view mirror which is such a buzz, the brakes are ridiculously good when you're really hitting them.
There are so many long flat sections of road out there it seemed to last forever. Some have big trees planted every 100 yards along the whole section and it did occur to me that if I made one little mistake I wouldn't be recounting this to anybody.
I came up behind other cars a couple of times so slowed right down and sat in behind them, Even though there was nothing else about I wanted the fun of pulling out and blasting past them, it's just an animal when it takes off!
My heart was racing when I reached the outskirts of Dole and I had to blast the aircon to get back to normal!
Great fun and I'm very lucky to be in the position to do it. I don't know if I'll find better roads than that on my whole trip.
I drove it properly this morning.
Got up early and headed out of Beaune across country toward Dole via all the little villages.
These are wonderful driving roads , it's why I come to France, flat, fast with miles of visibility.
A perfect dry, bright morning and no one about.
As I was heading out Thriller came on and it seemed to fit so I put it on repeat and cranked it right up.
The first long straight I floored it.
f
king hell this thing is quick!I've never driven a proper racing car on a track but this must be what it feels like, it's just devastatingly fast. People always talk about being pinned in the seat and a lot of it is hyperbole but flooring this really does that, it's f
king scary. It hurtles out of bends and actually feels more planted the faster you go, on the long sighted sections I was absolutely flying. When I came over I set the Speedo to Kmh, I don't have the mental dexterity to convert the speeds in my head but a few times I glanced down it started with a 2.
Something happens on the dash when you're thrashing it, a bar of colour runs across, must be something to do with gear changes but I didn't want to keep my eyes on it because outside stuff was happening very quickly.
Michael was singing "You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it" and while white knuckling the steering wheel I thought you're not wrong there old son.
The air brake was slamming up and down in the rear view mirror which is such a buzz, the brakes are ridiculously good when you're really hitting them.
There are so many long flat sections of road out there it seemed to last forever. Some have big trees planted every 100 yards along the whole section and it did occur to me that if I made one little mistake I wouldn't be recounting this to anybody.
I came up behind other cars a couple of times so slowed right down and sat in behind them, Even though there was nothing else about I wanted the fun of pulling out and blasting past them, it's just an animal when it takes off!
My heart was racing when I reached the outskirts of Dole and I had to blast the aircon to get back to normal!
Great fun and I'm very lucky to be in the position to do it. I don't know if I'll find better roads than that on my whole trip.
Edited by br d on Sunday 27th May 15:52
Pericoloso said:
Pics from the potato phone ?.....
please.....of anything.....
Oh you are going to regret asking for pics Mr P, I have tons of them, and all my usual crap quality!please.....of anything.....
When I'd eventually brought my heart rate back to normal I stopped in a car park next to the river in Dole, it's a beautiful little town and I took this pic:
So as I'm sitting there people are coming over and chatting as they always do, taking pics and saying "Magnifique!" which I love everytime cos I'm a great big tart.
Then a bloke parks up in a ropey old van and comes over. he has no English at all and he's talking very quickly so my appalling French is completely useless. He keeps saying "Ferrari, Aston" and pointing off into the distance. Then he starts repeating "Exposition, exposition" and more pointing.
After a few minutes of this I gather that there is some sort of car show nearby. I get google maps out and he's trying to point at things but he's a bit excitable and I'm not really getting it. Then he mimes driving and slaps his van and points at my car so I say "D'accord" and we drive off with me following him.
He takes a tortuous route down a load of back streets and eventually we drive onto a pretty dodgy looking industrial estate, scrap yards and the like, so I'm getting a bit suspicious and watching out for sudden movement. Then we come out of that, cross a roundabout and I start seeing signs for the car show. We pull into the car park of a huge industrial unit and there is a massive show going on with thousands of people everywhere!
He takes me right up to it, a quick word with security, they move all the barriers and he parks me right outside the place and suddenly there are hundreds of people round the car!
It quickly becomes apparent that he is an important guy because there are loads of people bowing and scraping to him, I'm completely confused but thank f
k he goes and gets a lovely girl called Stephanie who teaches English. She explains that he is the main man, he is something to do with the French Porsche club and he has organised the whole thing!I am VIP'ed in through the back doors (I later went out and paid anyway) and he starts introducing me to a whirlwind of different people, all of who are also jabbering away in French and Steph is trying to keep me up to speed. I'm meeting all the big wheels from various French clubs, Merc, BMW, Ferrari, it just went on and on! It turns out they don't have a McLaren and they start pointing at various areas to get my bloody car in the show! I'm telling Steph I can't do that because don't have much time, don't want to get boxed in all day becuase I have some plans for the afternoon.
So I've taken about a million pictures of the stuff in the show and I'm going to inflict them on PH!
It was very varied, not Supercar stuff really but all sorts.
I stayed a few hours, met tons of people, got treated like royalty and had a fantastic time, completely out of nowhere!
Some days the world is full of s
tty people, today it was full of wonderful people.
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