Drive it like it’s hot.

When you drive in Europe during the summer with an air con-less car you have to make a decision.

You can pop up the sunroof and roll down the windows. [preferred].

However at motorway – well felicia – cruising speeds (c. 60mph) this creates a veritable white noise of hand dryer air that screams into the car, and your face. Not sustainable for a long amount of time. This is Option A.

Closing the windows, however, leads to a temperature inclined to soar to the forties. A warm car and option B.

We’ve been carefully negotiating our way up through France, flipping between options A and B and after a 500 mile day and a 300miler today, we are now have some seriously sweltering miles under our belts.

The sat nav told us we had a mood-boosting 913 miles to go when we set off from the shores of lake garda yesterday.

When we left the weather was overcast and we even had rain as we emerged from the 11km Mont Blanc tunnel. Not great holidaying weather but appreciated in a 15 year old Skoda.

As we descended from the alps, we found ourselves in the alpine Chamonix surrounded by outdoor types and glaciers.

In France, we can say the sun has got it’s hat on, but %*# has it made the car warm.

Here are some pictures.

Rainy Italy

Sunny France.

Sunny, and now warm, France.

French campsite, somewhere south of Dijon.

Ditto.

Lewis driving. Probably warm.

The warmness indicator. Typical reading.

The 913 mile task.