As already reported recently, the GRR’s long-term evaluation Nissan X-Trail had transported me safely and incident-free across Europe from Goodwood, down to Geneva, via Antwerp, in far less extreme winter weather than was forecast, and now it was time to set off again homeward bound, inevitably via a convoluted route once again.
Needing to drive from Geneva to Vesoul, in the picturesque Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region France, none of the local autoroutes would have taken me directly to my destination, without taking a long, mile-sapping detour, which I wasn’t keen to do as it was already late evening, and the Nissan’s thirst for diesel was rather heavier than expected at motorway cruising speeds.
A very short hop from the Palexpo motor show location, next to Geneva airport, and into France was my best bet, as I needed fuel (less expensive in France than Switzerland) and a few provisions to help keep me energized on my drive to Vesoul, so a local supermarché selling both was a very welcome sight.
To get to Vesoul in the shortest possible distance, a drive over the Jura mountains was in order, which on my way south-bound, heading down to Geneva, was mostly snow-free in daylight hours. It was now dark and late, however, with the outside temperature dropping steadily, according to the X-Trail’s clear instrumentation display. The higher the Nissan climbed, the chiller it got, with snow and icy patches becoming more frequent, so I slipped the X-Trail easily into its automatic Mode 4x4i setting for peace of mind, the system selecting the model’s all-wheel-drive mode only as and when required.