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France adventure
  • The Pollards
Jul – Aug 2024

France adventure

We are the Pollards (Gareth, Laura & Elliott) and this summer, we are having a family adventure driving around France. Our journey begins from our home in Holsworthy, Devon. Keep reading to see where we go! Read more
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  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler
    there were more than this!

    Summary of day 11

    August 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    For today’s journey from Jacou to Limoges, we had approx 275 miles to cover but we started with a range of 268, so clearly we would need to stop for a charge.

    As before, if I had been driving more sensibly over the last few days, the car could have made it comfortably without needing to charge, but seeing as it’s a long journey we would be stopping anyway so both us and the car can have a ‘splash and dash’ at the same time.

    After leaving the impressive viaduct, the car must have thought I needed a break from the motorway as the route it chose was made up of primarily ‘a’ roads with a few back roads thrown in for good measure. 100 ish miles of smooth tarmac and one pot hole. Some of the straights were as long and straight as the roads me and Laura encountered on our honeymoon travels across America.

    We passed through picturesque villages and towns and even got stuck behind a tractor run for a good few miles. This meant that by the time we had joined the motorway and travelled 30 miles to the services the car had suggested we should charge at, the m/kwh had risen to 2.9, lots better but still not brilliant.

    Unfortunately, the charger that was free didn’t work and all of the other chargers were in use. No need to panic though, we still had about 50 miles of range and looking on the Mercedes Me app, Laura found another bank of super chargers 2 miles down the road.

    Once there, we plugged in, after making a British driver move his petrol powered suv as he obviously thought he was some kind of man and could park across 2 charging bays. I can imagine he does that a lot regardless of what country he is in, seemed the type. That is the first time we have encountered or even seen it on these travels. Unfortunately, it happens a lot in the UK. Different mentality I guess. Over here, they are embracing the change judging by the amount of ev’s you see and the fantastic infrastructure.

    So we had wees and Elliott fell over. Not at the same time thankfully. After doing some squats and lunges (again not while weeing) to stretch the legs after a 2 hour journey, 10 mins had passed. The car had added just over 100 miles, the range showing 152 miles and we only had 75 to go and the hotel we were staying at on arrival has a bank of Tesla chargers that we can also use.

    Pretty easy this really.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Novotel Limoges Le Lac

    Aug 3–4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Arrived at the hotel, had a quick freshen up and headed for a drink in the bar. Discovered they had a Tesla board game, designed to be played while you charge your car so we had a go, it was great fun but I’ve since discovered that they are impossible to buy. Should’ve snuck it into my bag when I had the chance!

    Dinner in the hotel restaurant before a quick walk down the lake by the hotel.

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 4
    Chicken: 1    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Oradour-sur-Glane

    August 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Leaving the hotel this morning, we headed for Oradour-sur-Glane, the martyred village, where, on 10 June 1944, German troops massacred 642 residents (the entire population, apart from 7 survivors) and burnt the village to the ground. The ruins of the village have been left untouched since, including cars and household items which are still in the same place they were on that day.

    We were taken aback by just how big the village was, we were expecting a small amount of buildings, but as we wandered around, we realised how much bigger it was.

    Gareth here, I just wanted to say I found the experience quite moving, which is probably a bit of an understatement. When you see a grouping of what are clearly bullet holes in a house wall, that are adult chest height and then a couple of feet to the right are another grouping of bullet holes but this time are at a child's chest height, lets just say it is an image that will stay with me for a long time as the obvious thoughts go through your mind. This may or may not have happened as after some reading it sounds like children were rounded up and taken to the church.

    It is hard to understand how anyone could bring themselves to commit this atrocity, but as we all know, it is easy to whip up the hatred in ordinary people, to a point where they will blindly follow any order given by their so called leaders and hierarchy.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Le Mans

    Aug 4–6, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We found our apartment in Le Mans easily and all was going great until I opened the lock box where the key was meant to be and it was empty! I frantically called, texted, WhatsApp’ed and emailed the owner for half an hour, to no avail. It was quite hot (not Montpellier standards, but still hot by our standards) and as usual we all needed a wee and a cold drink. Being a Sunday afternoon though, not a lot was open but we found a pub/restaurant that was and it had chargers nearby so we headed there. The owner eventually answered my call and once we’d overcome the language barrier, he realised that the last guests hadn’t returned the key when they left. He wasn’t in town, but kindly agreed for me to retrieve the key to his own apartment and from there he’d talk me through finding a spare key for ours. Problem solved, and by the time we’d got back to the house, he’d messaged to say someone had got the missing key back and replaced it in the lock box. Phew! We’d been looking forward to staying in this apartment in a listed building dating from 1747, so we were glad to finally get in.

    We were all quite hungry as we hadn’t really stopped for lunch on today’s journey, so rather than trekking round the city in search of a restaurant that was open and suitable, we headed back to the pub that had been our salvation earlier. Everyone else must’ve had the same idea though, we queued to get in and eventually one of the staff came and spoke to the people at the front of the queue and at that point everyone turned around and headed out, our translation skills told us that meant there was a long wait for tables so we headed to Buffalo Grills a couple of minutes away.

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 5
    Chicken: 1    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Summary of day 12

    August 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    After fully charging the night before, the range stood at 274 miles. More than enough to take us the approx 210 miles to Le Mans.

    Again this journey didn’t include much motorway driving and perhaps my mind was elsewhere after visiting Orador as arriving in Le Mans the average m/kwh was 3.4, roughly 115 mpg.

    After the drama of arriving at our accommodation and having no key to get in and all desperately needing to pee and with nothing local to us being open, we found a pub on the outskirts of town with chargers nearby and headed there.

    While poor old Laura was sorting things out the charger added 67% battery charge which worked out at 190 miles. This meant that we didn’t need to use the charger at the apartment which was a bit of luck as it is only basically an extension lead which would mean charging speed is as slow as Elliott putting on his shoes to go to school in the mornings.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Le Mans Cathedral

    August 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning we walked down to Cathedral St Julien, less than 10 minutes from our apartment. As we entered the little square by the cathedral, we were greeted by a fire truck cherry picker thing raised up to the cathedral roof. We were a bit worried that there was something wrong, but couldn’t see any smoke or anything so we assumed all was ok and maybe they were just inspecting it. The main door to the cathedral was open so we decided to head in for a look around straight away. Well, we thought we’d been pretty blown away by Limoges cathedral, but I think this one soon overtook it. The scale and height were absolutely immense, and the organ was being played as well which was pretty powerful.

    By the time we’d finished here and made it to the cafe, we’d missed breakfast (the French are a bit more rigid in their mealtimes than us) and were too early for lunch (a very helpful lady who was just leaving the cafe and had seen us looking a bit unsure told us that we were unlikely to get anything now until 12) Our next stop was the 24 hour circuit and museum. We knew there was supermarket with a cafe on the way and we needed to stock up on snacks and drinks for the next day’s car journey so we headed there first.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Circuit 24h Le Mans

    August 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Hello Elliott here. Today, we went to the Le Mans 24 circuit which had a museum with some very cool cars. It also had 4,400 miniature versions of all the cars that raced there since it started in 1923. We paid extra to go and look at the trackside, grandstands and all of that kind of stuff. As we were walking we heard some engines so we went to have a look and discovered that some amateur motorbike racers were going round. After watching the bikers for a bit we decided to get back to the car as it was getting quite hot.Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Summary of day 13

    August 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After visiting the cathedral we needed breakfast. Well more like a brunch as time had slipped on by and no local cafes were serving. We knew at the local shopping centre we could grab a bite to eat so went there. Whilst there, it made sense to top the car up to 100% battery. Giving a range of 285 miles.

    Nothing much to report other than we drove to the Le Mans race track to visit the museum. They wouldn’t let me drive on the track for some reason. Health and safety gone mad if you ask me.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Le Mans

    August 5, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    This evening we wandered out to get some dinner and found a lovely brasserie not far from the cathedral. Although this meant missing out on a last tram journey to go further into the city, it was a price worth paying because we had a fantastic meal of typically French cuisine- moules frites and confit duck leg.

    After dinner we walked around some of the ‘Cité Plantagenêt’ the historic quarter of the city and took in the beautiful old buildings, some of which date back to the 15th century.

    Then it was back to the apartment to pack ready for our final journey north tomorrow.

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 5
    Chicken: 1

    PS: I think we’ve either brought a mosquito with us from Montpellier, or some more have found us here because one seems to have started buzzing around every time we’ve just been dropping off to sleep, or waking up in the mornings. This time though, they seem to prefer the taste of the boys because they’ve got off worse than me!    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Nausicaá

    August 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Busy, Busy, Busy. Oh, Hello! Elliott here, today we went to Nausicaä, Europe's BIGGEST aquarium. But first let me tell you about our parking kerfuffle, after driving around for ages we found some where to park. We finally got in and I discovered I don't exist to some people this is because people kept pushing in and blocking my view but I later had my revenge and showed her who existed (don't worry no violence involved). There was lots of cool fish, stinky penguins and one of the sea lions was sun bathing. Me and dad had ice cream from the café and mum had mango panna cotta, all delicious. We walked back muttering about how busy it was (very). Okay good bye!Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Holiday Inn Coquelles

    Aug 6–7, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Our last French hotel was the Holiday Inn Calais-Coquelles, just a few minutes from Cité Europe shopping centre and the Channel Tunnel terminal.

    Elliott and I had a quick swim while Gareth caught up on some work emails (or had a pint, I’m not sure which) (it was both actually - GP) then we had another excellent meal in the restaurant. All of the meals we’ve had in the hotels over here have been brilliant, especially as the hotels have all been part of a chain, they have all offered plenty of variety and regional produce, which probably wouldn’t be the case at home.

    Back to England tomorrow, although we’re not heading all the way home, we’re going to eke out the journey just a little bit longer!

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 6
    Chicken: 1    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Summary of day 14

    August 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Left the apartment with 272 miles in the tank. This would just cover our needs but seeing as we had a 4 hour drive ahead, we would be stopping anyway so it made sense to plug in for a bit while we stopped.

    Completely hassle free journey, beautifully quiet toll road for 100 or so miles before we stopped for the usual pee and grabbed something to eat as we hadn’t had breakfast.

    Suitably topped up, we carried on the journey and arrived at the hotel with 18% charge left. Plenty of chargers free at the hotel so plugged the car in and topped it up to 100%.

    Drove 267 miles in 4 hours 23 mins of driving time. Car tells me I averaged 61mph at an average of 2.8 m/kwh.

    Oh, and you'll never guess what, an hour into the drive, Laura realised she still had the key to the apartment in her pocket!! Well there was no chance we were turning back, so she messaged the owner to let him know we'd post it back once we reached our next stop. There was a post office not far from the aquarium so she managed to send it from there. Oops!    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Back across (or under) the Channel

    August 7, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Gareth woke up this morning with his left hand resembling King Charles’ from some mosquito bites that had swollen up quite badly, not a great way to be when you’ve still got a fair bit of driving to do, but luckily I’m pretty well equipped with pills and potions for this after spending a fortune in Montpellier on anything I could find to relieve the burning, itching and swelling!

    After having our fill of our last delicious continental breakfast (again, they’ve all been excellent!) We loaded the car and headed to Cite Europe shopping centre. We popped to the supermarket for a couple of goodies to take home and had a look in a few shops, but decided to head to the tunnel terminal a bit early to see if we could get an earlier train back. We managed to check-in to one a little earlier than we’d booked (we could’ve gone on an even earlier one if we paid a bit extra, but we weren’t that desperate to get back to England!) so we headed to the terminal to get some duty free and a drink. By this time Elliott, who isn’t really a breakfast person, had decided he was hungry and had spotted Burger King, so he had what he described as “the best burger ever because it’s before 12:00!” to keep him going for the next part of the journey.

    It was a lot quieter than it had been on the way over so we didn’t have to queue for long before we boarded the train to head back under the channel.

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 7
    Chicken: 1    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Surrey stopover

    Aug 7–8, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We'd decided to make a last minute stopover in Surrey on the way home, after hearing about Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands and realising it wasn't far from our route home.

    We enjoyed looking at some cool Mercedes', lots of AMGs, F1 cars and some classics, as well as some being taken for a spin around the test track (they wouldn't let me on here either - GP).

    Checked into the Hilton at Cobham for our last hotel stop and enjoyed even more excellent food. Going home and having to cook is going to be a bit of a chore!

    Elliott's burger count
    Beef: 6
    Chicken: 1    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Summary of day 15

    August 7, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Drove to the tunnel. Waited a bit. Got on the train. Went through the tunnel. Drove to Mercedes World. Drove from Mercedes World to the hotel in Cobham.

    The journey from our side was atrocious. Most of the m20 motorway had an average speed restriction of 50 mph with both sides of the road having lanes coned off with no signs of work being done.

    Looking into it, this has been done to create ‘holding’ lanes for lorries travelling towards the tunnel in case things get busy and they use the other side of the carriageway as contra flow. I think it is a semi permanent thing. Unfortunately getting through customs etc takes a lot longer these days due to you know what. God that was boring, the drive and that paragraph. I’ve changed.

    Once at the hotel, we topped the car back up to 100% so we have more than enough to get us back home to Devon.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler
    one of us got this wrong

    Brooklands Museum

    August 8, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Today we went to the Brooklands Museum of cars and planes. I sat in Ayrton Senna’s old McLaren Formula one car, you weren’t really meant, to but one of the volunteers opened it up especially for some children to sit in and I was in the right place at the right time.

    We got to look at some old racing helmets and goggles, which I had to wear gloves to touch because some of them were over 100 years old. We also got to try some on that weren’t quite as old and fragile.

    There was also a McLaren display and it had a full size car made of Lego.

    I also sat in a Harrier jump jet which you were meant to sit in. We could have gone in Concorde but it was fully booked. There were lots of other different planes that you could go in, one of them was a king’s plane (the Sultan of Oman - LP) and it even had beds in it, which had straps to keep you in. We went in a cargo plane that said it was used to transport horses.

    Me and daddy enjoyed using touchscreens to design different planes and in the aeroplane factory there was an old newspaper and it was from today’s date in 1968! It is funny cos it is also Grandad's birthday!

    We went in the London Bus Museum and saw lots of old and new buses (“nowadays buses” as I heard some annoying American children calling them. They then started using the overhead grab handles as gymnastic equipment. Tut tut.) I liked the canteen bus, because it is a bus that has food for the people that worked in the buses.

    I really liked it at this museum and would recommend it to people.    Read more

  • The PollardsFrance adventureTraveler

    Final summary

    August 8, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    So there we have it. That’s it then. Let’s have a final summary of the maths.

    We drove 2,261 miles over 16 days. It cost £325 in electric and £201 in tolls.

    Now be in no doubt that if I drove more to the speed limits on the motorways you would be looking at reducing the fuel bill by easily £50.

    Let’s compare costs, if I had still had the BMW 840i Gran Coupe that was the last ‘good’ petrol car I owned before going electric. (I still own other vehicles but wouldn’t fancy taking them on this trip)

    Let’s assume I got 28mpg (this is being very generous) - I would need 80.75 gallons of Super Unleaded as that is what I always used.

    80.75 gallons = 367.1 litres.
    Average cost of Super Unleaded = €1.895
    Convert to Pounds = £1.62
    367.1 x £1.62 = £594.70

    So there you have it, petrol would have cost me approx £270 more.

    Now I know there are a lot of if’s, but’s and maybes and this isn’t a scientific test, but this is our experience.

    Electricity cost us significantly less, at no point were we inconvenienced, I didn’t have to alter my driving style, we suffered no ‘range anxiety’, we didn’t need to stop for a charge over and above our normal stops.

    You may say we were lucky to have chargers at the hotels, there was no luck in this. It was planned. You may say you had to spend time planning what hotels you were staying at. Well yes we did but we were planning what hotels to stay in anyway. The very nature of this trip demanded that. Besides in a few years time, the majority of hotels will have chargers.

    I do hope that this blog can cut through the mountains of misinformation out there. Owning an electric car really is simple. Obviously it’s not for everyone but that’s ok. There is room on the roads for everyone. Just don’t be put off trying one when you are looking for a new car.

    Elliott's final burger count - Apart from a couple of sneaky Burger Kings, most of these were delicious French 'steak hache', pure minced steak and so much tastier than your usual burger!

    Beef: 6
    Chicken: 1

    We all had a wonderful time. Elliott was a very good boy who thoroughly deserved his Lego purchases. I wish I could have sat in Ayrton Senna's car, but if I had tried, I think I would still be stuck there now.

    The three of us agree that Geneva was one of the high points of the trip, and it is cetainly a city that we'd like to go back to, in fact we'd like to see a lot more of Switzerland. Elliott said that he liked it because it was a country he hadn't been to before.

    I found the driving on the whole, pretty easy, and dare I say relaxing (on the motorways) The car eats up the miles with ease and the only sound is either Elliott talking, or the music/ Harry Hill's podcast 'Are We There Yet'- the world's first family friendly podcast, as he tells us.

    THANKS FOR READING. GOODBYE.    Read more

    Trip end
    August 8, 2024
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