My travelcompanion Lexi (pic heavy) - update 2 june - Castle Haarzuilen

Thank you both.


Some pictures of her in august 2014, admiring the view at the Mosel valley

Really cute figure, and great photos! I especially love all the ones by the sea. They work so well and the background totally looks to scale. Totally captures that laid back travel feel too!

Thank you. She is indeed very cute.

Her next trip brought her to the Viaduct de Garabit in France, which was a bit of a challenge because the viaduct is very big, and Lexi small. She also visited a castle in the same region.

She is really travelling a lot. Nice pics, like real life. I like taking a figure with me on vacation, too.

Thank you! Indeed she gets around.

When she's at home, she's gathering her lunch (or dinner) in the garden.

Great scenic views. Lovely.

These are some really good pics! I gotta tell ya, tho, those red boots gave me a bad flashback...I have a pair just like it, except in black, and I don't know about you but I had a hell of time lacing them up! I finally did it but don't ever wanna do it again...lol

Stryker2011 wrote:Great scenic views. Lovely.

Thank you. I love them too, so there'll be more.

Dr. Dahk'nezz wrote:These are some really good pics! I gotta tell ya, tho, those red boots gave me a bad flashback...I have a pair just like it, except in black, and I don't know about you but I had a hell of time lacing them up! I finally did it but don't ever wanna do it again...lol

Thanks. Indeed the boots were a pain to lace up. As mentioned before, I don't have them anymore, they got ruined.

In the summer of 2016 she went to see the Tour de France. It took her awhile to get to see the riders though. First she went to the slopes of the Grand Colombier, a few days before that stage. The last kilometers of the climb, on every single available space there was a camping car. The view was nice, and there were some tourists doing the climb.







I'm sure he must have noticed us, and probably thought "what the heck is he doing," but he didn't say anything.

I wanted to take a picture of her on the colsign of the Grand Colombier, but there were so many campingcars parked there, that I didn't find it. So I took a picture of her on the co­lsign of a smaller climb, earlier in that stage.


She also wanted to sit in the VIP-tribune (since this was the day before that stage, it was already set up, but empty).


On another day we took some pictures of the view on the col d'Aravis, which featured in another stage of that years' Tour.




The view on the town of Flumet, at the bottom of the col d'Aravis




She wanted to have a picture of her with the wearer of the green jersey


And also one at the sign of the intermediate sprint. (At the other side of the road there was a gendarme standing, while I took her out of my backpack, set her up, took some pictures and left again. He must have seen me, but didn't say anything)


Then she settled herself on the col de Colombière, to see the stage, but first she watched more tourists going up.






I was sitting there on a fairly high point on a little wall and there weren't a lot of spectators there. When I was sitting there for while an english couple climbed up there too, and the woman put her hand right next to Lexi and said "Hey, there's a little doll here." I replied "Yes, there is," but that was all the conversation. After a few minutes they left again to find another spot.

Next time she will see the Tour de France passing by.

As announced she did see the Tour de France passing by.

First the caravan:











And then the rides. The leadgroup first, which was led by the greenjerseywearer: Peter Sagan.



Then a dropped rider of the leadgroup


And the pack, led by the Skytrain.

Love the new outfit! And the pictures are beautiful. Very life like.
She was actually my very first Phicen! But I was so scared of breaking her that she stayed in the box for years until I eventually just sold her again. She went to Russia. ^^

Diana wrote:Love the new outfit! And the pictures are beautiful. Very life like.
She was actually my very first Phicen! But I was so scared of breaking her that she stayed in the box for years until I eventually just sold her again. She went to Russia. ^^

Thank you. She's my first too. And for a long time she was the only one. Now I've got a few more, but she's by far my favorite, because she's already been with me so long. And her wardrobe grew through the years. Although she tends to forget her bathingsuit when on vacation.

So cool to have seen the all that with her. Did the English couple that sat next to her feel,uncomfortable once they saw her? I’m curious if that’s why they left...

Great shots, and she certainly does get around.

Stryker2011 wrote:So cool to have seen the all that with her. Did the English couple that sat next to her feel,uncomfortable once they saw her? I’m curious if that’s why they left...

Great shots, and she certainly does get around.

Thank you. Well, as I mentioned I started taking her on holiday with me in 2014. These pictures were from 2016, so there's still a lot to come.

I don't think they felt really uncomfortable. The woman spotted her before they sat down a few meters away from me. I think they left to find a better spot to watch and catch some of the goodies the caravan hands out. I remember them passing by a few more times afterwards, to change their viewing spots.


In august 2016 I was spending in France again, to spend a long weekend. In the town I was staying there were signs pointing towards a monumunt. So Lexi and me decided to check it out. She studied the signs which commemorated an airplane crash. There was also a tableau which she studied, and on it she tried to find the hotel we were staying in.

You took your traveling figure to see the Tour de France! THAT IS EXCITING! How cool!

Great pics of Peter Sagan at the peak of his career and Team Sky. That must be Zoomy Froomey in yellow!

I have watched Le Tour on television every year now for probably a decade or more. It must be a lot of fun to actually be there in person!

davidd wrote:You took your traveling figure to see the Tour de France! THAT IS EXCITING! How cool!

Great pics of Peter Sagan at the peak of his career and Team Sky. That must be Zoomy Froomey in yellow!

I have watched Le Tour on television every year now for probably a decade or more. It must be a lot of fun to actually be there in person!

Thank you. I'm an avid cyclist myself, I thought it would be really cool to take pictures of her watching the Tour.

Indeed it is Froome in yellow.

Seems like you're back from your trip. I hope you managed to take some pictures of your figure during it.


In 2017 she travelled with me to the Champagne region. It was a bit of challenge to take her picture with some of the big bottles.






Later we were in Germany, taking pictures of a big railwaybridge, crossing a very small stream. Someone had a russian MIG-21 in his backyard (it was actually a used car dealer who had it on display). Here too it was a bit of a challenge to get good pictures. The one with the MIG isn't particularly good, but I thought it was an interesting view.

Oh I love tank tops with shorts!

Diana wrote:Oh I love tank tops with shorts!

Thanks. Lexi says hi and wonders if you like them with skirts too.

Woow that Tour de France pictures are so great, just saw them now. And all these pictures with bridges and valleys, beautiful.

Since you are a cycling in beautiful places, maybe you could install Lexi on your bicycle's handlebar with a small gopro-ish camera directly behind her, so it looks like she is cycling herself.

It's funny when a small model scale figure meets upscaled figured like the yellow cyclist or mickey mouse.

And maybe install a tiny motor or something in the head. Everytime someone sits next to or reacts to her, she should slowly turn her head towards them.

Great pictures in Germany. I like the MIG as well, and I don’t think it’s as bad as you may think.

I really love these photos, they have such a range of expression from beautifully and artfully composed to somewhat silly but still brimming with humor and affection. You have a talent for photography, which is its own hobby and passion, and your Lexi is lucky to have such a skillful chronicler of her travels!

Please tell us what kind of equipment you use. I'm assuming a decent DSLR with macro lens. If you say you're using a cell phone I might just have to throw my stuff in the trash!   

I also really like the outfits you've given her, wish I could still wear clothes like that! 

Ovy wrote:Woow that Tour de France pictures are so great, just saw them now. And all these pictures with bridges and valleys, beautiful.

Since you are a cycling in beautiful places, maybe you could install Lexi on your bicycle's handlebar with a small gopro-ish camera directly behind her, so it looks like she is cycling herself.

It's funny when a small model scale figure meets upscaled figured like the yellow cyclist or mickey mouse.

And maybe install a tiny motor or something in the head. Everytime someone sits next to or reacts to her, she should slowly turn her head towards them.

Thanks! I don't see myself installing her on the handlebars of my racingbike. I'd need to put some contraption on it and tie her down. And putting a motor in her head seems very difficult to me. I don't want to ruin her pretty head!

Stryker2011 wrote:Great pictures in Germany. I like the MIG as well, and I don’t think it’s as bad as you may think.

Thanks. It's not really bad, but the composition of it is not quite right. The flags and the cars are a distraction. Nothing I could do about it though. Further the space was limited. The only good view which had a spot for Lexi to sit, was where I was standing. And from that spot, Lexi is very small compared to the MIG. I would have liked that she appeared bigger. But as I mentioned before, photographing her in front of big structures or objects has its challenges.

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:I really love these photos, they have such a range of expression from beautifully and artfully composed to somewhat silly but still brimming with humor and affection. You have a talent for photography, which is its own hobby and passion, and your Lexi is lucky to have such a skillful chronicler of her travels!

Please tell us what kind of equipment you use. I'm assuming a decent DSLR with macro lens. If you say you're using a cell phone I might just have to throw my stuff in the trash!   

I also really like the outfits you've given her, wish I could still wear clothes like that! 

Thank you! I've noticed a lot of the people here like to make realistic dioramas for their figures. I think of Lexi like a little pixie who goes around in our world. It's wonderful if I can take pictures of her where she appears to be bigger (or even a regular person), but often it's also fun to just show her in her actual size.

I regularly get her new outfits. So you'll get to see her in more different outfits.

I'm not using a cellphone, but not a DSLR either. I'm using a compactcamera. Currently a Sony iXUS 240. Getting good pictures is mostly about composition, although a better camera is an advantage. With a phone you can't really control much. And usually the lens of a phone isn't so good. Even a cheap camera like mine gives better (and easier) control over what you do, but it still has limitations. When photographing the MIG it refused to focus on Lexi. With a better camera you can always choose your point of focus. And it will have a better lens and even more control.

The next pictures show those challenges and limitations of a compactcamera. They were taken in the summer of 2017, again in France. At a dam at the Dordogne river, the Barrage de Bort-Les-Orgues. There's also a nice story with these pictures, because it's the first time I've been spotted taking pictures of Lexi, and I also had a conversation with the woman who saw me. When I started my photoshoot there was no-one nearby (even though I sometimes take pictures in places where there are some people in the vicinity, I always look for a spot where there are none nearby, although over time I've experienced that most people don't notice and if they they do rarely comment, so I'm getting a bit more comfortable with being seen).

When I was taking my pictures, I hadn't noticed a woman coming closer and also taking pictures of the dam. I only noticed her when I was about to relocate Lexi. I assumed she had already seen her, but when I picked up Lexi she started laughing, and she struck a modelling pose herself, as if to say that I was using Lexi as a model. Then she started talking about her brother who had a little dinosaur with which he did the same. The conversation was short, mostly one-sided (her talking and me nodding or sayin "oui"), and before I could find the words to say more, she already turned around, walked away and proceeded with taking her own pictures. I didn't get a negative vibe from her.

Then there is a picture of the trainstation in the town I was staying in (Riom-es-montagnes), which had a tourist train. And it also shows a new outfit.

And then some scenic views from nearby that town.

More fun travel pics! I particularly like the one with the trains!

Thank you! There's still more from that trip.

There was a castle nearby, unfortunetaly it was in restoration. But the view from there was nice. Then we went to the Col de la Serre and the Pas de Payrol, where Lexi wanted to take her picture with the colsign. Since the Pas de Peyrol was cramped with cars, we didn't stop there, but a little below the col there was a nice view, and there were still paintings on the road from the Tour de France the year before.

From there we continued to the Col de Neronne, where again she wanted proof that she climbed the col. These pictures were taken along the route of a cycling event that I participated a few days later and there were already signs of it, so she wanted her picture taken with one of them too.

From the col de Neronne the view in the valley and the lower lands to the east was truly amazing.

Lexi really does get around, doesn't she? I'm sure she appreciates all the beautiful places you take her, and the frequent stops to sit down. Too bad about that castle being obscured by the scaffolding. That would have been a glorious shot.

GubernatorFan wrote:Lexi really does get around, doesn't she? I'm sure she appreciates all the beautiful places you take her, and the frequent stops to sit down. Too bad about that castle being obscured by the scaffolding. That would have been a glorious shot.

Indeed she does. But as I mentioned before, I started taking her with me on holiday in 2014, so I've got a lot of old pics to post.

In the summer of 2018 she was in the Alps again. This time sometimes riding in a good position in my car. She climbed another colsign and enjoyed the view there. There was also  a small bikerace going on.

On the way home we stayed a few days near Metz, where she spotted a monument along a road. Surprisingly it was a german monument. The dates on it made it clear that is was for soldiers who had fallen during the Prussian-French war of 1870-71. There was also a small warcemetary on the other side of the road.

Then there's a picture of a typical french road: a long straight on rolling hills. And to end this post some pictures of an aquaduct in Ars-sur-Moselle. It looks roman, but is from the 12th century.

Those fake Romans! And if you're going to put her on your windshield, you should improvise a seat belt.

The light is quite nice in most of your travel photo! Good weather follows Lexi, it would seem!

I enjoyed seeing the Tour reminders on the pavement! Bardet, Barguil, Sagan... and Tony must be Tony Martin!

Perhaps Lexi needs a bicycle of her own!

GubernatorFan wrote:Those fake Romans! And if you're going to put her on your windshield, you should improvise a seat belt.

I probably should, because unbelted she can only ride it on the straights. Otherwise she's thrown around in the car (and that's not becasue of my driving style, but because there is so little friction that she easily slides off).

davidd wrote:The light is quite nice in most of your travel photo! Good weather follows Lexi, it would seem!

I enjoyed seeing the Tour reminders on the pavement! Bardet, Barguil, Sagan... and Tony must be Tony Martin!

Perhaps Lexi needs a bicycle of her own!

Thanks! Well, it's not much fun standing in the rain taking pictures. So I usually avoid that.

By now Lexi has her own transportation. Not a bicycle though. I'm going to skip a few trips to show it, before returning to the older trips.

She got a motorbike and a car (the motorbike is from Action Man, the car is from Barbie). I found both for €4 (each). The car is a bit to small. The actual scale of most Barbie cars is about 1:8. But if she's seated in it, it looks OK. Good thing about these is that they're easy to find for low prices (at least here in the Netherlands). I got both from marktplaats.nl, which is a trading site.

Some awesome shots. The story of the lady at the dam was funny. Glorious scenery, and like the Guv said — bummer about the castle being obscured by scaffolding. I like her motorcycle (looks like a BMW).