how good is the autosleepers broadway winter accessories pack?

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Wednesday 18^th January Day Three

How good is the Autosleeper Broadway winter accessories pack?

We are woken by gentle music and a ‘ping pong’ tannoy announcement at 0545. A far more civilised awakening than that on the ‘Amorique’ last year, where it was an ear-splitting loud gong noise and all the cabin lights suddenly being switched on. Full marks to the ‘Normandie’. Very civilised – thank you!  We grab a coffee in the self-serve cafe and munch on hot cross buns which we smuggled aboard!

And yes, we were indeed, first off after the lorries. Straight into sleet, rain and a snow flurry and of course darkness! On unfamiliar roads! Maggie's navigation skills rescue us once more and we drive for an hour before stopping for coffee at a road services. 

Today is one long, long, long, autoroute slog south punctuated by regular stops at Aire services. A comic break to the monotonous driving is a text message from AS Monitor telling us our motorhome has sent them a frost warning and that the outside temperature is now -1C. The cab heaters are on high and internally it’s only just about reaching 7C! 

Six hours later and we arrive at Jean d'Angely, where we make a supermache pitstop on the outskirts and fill up with diesel. Then ten minutes later we are on site at the Camping Car Aire. Well-marked pitches but close together. The ones at the back near the stream have easily accessible EHU bollards as do the central ones. The pitches near the entrance have to extend their cables across the road to a suite of bollards, so they will be run over by any late arrivals or early morning departees. Bring an extra-long cable is our advice. There is a nice lakeside walk, a children's play area and a small toilet block in the immediate vicinity but the toilets are not always open. The village is a ten-minute walk away. 

As it happens, there has obviously been some very heavy rainfall over the last few weeks. We are surrounded on three sides by rising flood waters, so it could be an interesting night to say the least. Let's hope it doesn't rain much. 

By 1930, the heating is on, set to 20C. The bathroom is freezing despite this. We've brought the duvet, mattress topper and pillows out of the bathroom cupboard and into the main habitation area to warm them up for tonight. Outside the temperature has fallen to -3C under clear skies.

We are still getting to know Bryony and her ‘little way’s’. One current debate is about when to put on the waste and fresh water tank heater mats. The handbook doesn't make it quite clear on this matter ... when has it been clear on anything frankly? Anyway, we've decided to put them on now as it is likely temperatures will fall further tonight. Having heard so many horror stories on various forums about the glue holding the mats to the tanks softening under the heat and then falling off ... I've decided to check them daily before we set off. 

Postscript: the winter accessories pack update

Did the tank heat mats work? Yes, this time they did. We had water through the taps in the morning and when I opened the waste tank tap, water flowed freely. And no, the glue holding the mats hadn’t softened overnight. I’d set the mats to come on and off throughout the night at regular intervals. You can read our other views about the winter pack in our previous blog post.

Useful information

Costs today - 112 euros fuel, campsite 11 euros. 

Distance driven today - 333 miles

Route taken: D514 – D515 – N158 – A88 – A28 – A11 – A28 – A10

Camping site: https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/marker.php?id=1446