France
Jacou

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    • Day 6

      Summary of day 6

      July 29 in France ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Left Geneva (after discovering that what could only have been a pterodactyl had been nesting above the car overnight) with 163 miles of range. Some 120 miles short of making it to the villa in Montpellier, so a charge along the way would be needed.

      About an hour or so into the journey we all needed wees as usual, so Laura found chargers at a Carrefour supermarket that wasn’t far off the motorway. That way we could combine wees and supply shopping for the villa while the car was charging. 45 mins or so later, the car was back to 100% with a range of 288 miles. We also took this time to buy some new microfibre cloths (a man can never have too many) which we then used to try and remove the pterodactyl dung from the car- no mean feat after it had baked on in the sun!

      Unfortunately after this stop, the motorway got busy and the temperature touched 37 degrees.
      The car’s sat nav suddenly diverted us off the motorway and by the looks of the gridlock on the motorway it did us a favour. The back roads ran parallel with the motorway and through towns for many miles and the red congestion on the map was a permanent fixture.

      After a couple more hours of travel and having rejoined the motorway, the bladders were ready to be emptied and then refilled with ice cold drinks, even with the air conditioning on permanently you still get a bit sticky. The temperature for this leg had been sat at 40 degrees.

      It makes sense to charge the car while you are having a break so Laura checked the sat nav as it shows all the chargers on the route, together with their speed and availability, so we chose the service station we wanted to use and pulled off.

      Shock horror, the first charger I tried didn’t work, so I just used another charger instead. No dramas. The bays here are covered to create shade and guess what they use? Only blooming solar panels. How very modern and forward thinking.

      We hit the road after about 15 mins for the final hours drive ending up with range of 85 miles and an average 2.6 m/kwh. This is obviously a low average and therefore the car is more thirsty, but I’m driving how I want to and the air con is working overtime. At no time did we suffer ‘range anxiety’ as chargers are literally everywhere.

      I must admit I felt this drive today and was glad of the stops so I could stretch my legs and that. If I drove a petrol car, I would have still made these stops. None of these stops were due to having an electric car, it was down to the driver and his weak bladder which runs in the family.
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    • Day 6–11

      Jacou

      July 29 in France ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Arrived at the villa near Montpellier after a long and very hot drive. Elliott was very pleased to see a toy shop right at the end of our road and we remembered why we picked this one, there are a couple of supermarkets and a bakery within a few minutes walk - I can’t wait until a pre breakfast visit to one of them!

      We met with the owner of the property and with a bit of help from google translate, he gave us all the information we needed for our stay and pointed out one of his three cats who wander around the garden (Elliott soon made friends with them)

      Once he left we were straight into the pool to cool off after our drive!

      Tomorrow is a day of more pool time, supermarkets (and toy shop) and doing some washing as we’re quickly running out of clean clothes!

      Elliott's burger count
      Beef: 3
      Chicken: 1
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    • Day 10

      Summary of days 6 - 10

      August 2 in France ⋅ 🌩️ 31 °C

      Not much to report with the ol motoring side of things while we have stayed in Jacou for the last few days.

      It was a deliberate choice when choosing this villa. Couple of minutes walk to the supermarkets, bakeries and shops, coupled with the close tram link has let the car have a little rest ready for the return journeys where we head back up the country.

      I think the car will enjoy returning to more ‘normal’ temperatures as much as I will. With temperatures touching 40 degrees it has had to work overtime keeping us cool etc. The temperatures are 8 degrees above average. The ‘pre-entry’ temperature control has worked wonders, bringing the temperature inside the car down to a more comfortable level before getting in. No more burning your hands on the steering wheel!!

      As Laura has already touched on, driving in the south of France is somewhat more erratic than in other parts, I was glad to keep the old girl (the car, not Laura) off the road as much as possible. I do enjoy it though, I just need a beaten up Peugeot to join in the fun and games.

      Early start tomorrow, hopefully these heavy rains with the storm we are having while I write this, will clean the dust and bugs off a bit. Saying that, there are surprisingly few bugs stuck to the front. Something is a foot (or head, leg, guts….well you get the idea)

      It amazes me how the temperatures can alter so much and with the torrential rain storms, the roads remain nigh on perfect. If this was the UK, the roads would already have melted and now would be flooded.

      Laura wins the mosquito bite competition here, for every one that me and Elliott have, she has at least 5 and we have got a decent amount.
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    • Day 10

      Last day in Jacou

      August 2 in France ⋅ 🌩️ 32 °C

      We have enjoyed a quiet last day in Jacou, spending time in the pool as well as a final visit to the toy shop, bakery, supermarket and the shopping centre just around the corner - which we combined with a final top-up charge before we head off tomorrow. I also made full use of of the washing machine and very quick drying in the sun, so that we have a case full of clean clothes for our onward journey. Unfortunately, just before I’d had chance to wash the pool towels and final bits this evening, we were hit by an almighty storm, which answered the questions we’ve been asking all week about how on earth anything grows here! We guess it’s because when it rains, it really rains! Looks like I’ll have to resort to good old indoor drying and hope they’re done by the morning, or hope the rain stops and get up early to put them outside. The poor cat didn’t look too pleased about the rain either, but politely declined my offer to dry it with a towel.

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

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Jacou, Jacon, Жаку, 34830, جکو, 雅库

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