Julian Bryant

I’d echo the comments about Li-ion batteries, the technology seems much better. I bought an Einhell with two batteries from Toolstation, under £60. Mostly steady winding duties, some drilling/screwdriving. I also used it, with a lambs wool bonnet, on some rather persistent black streaks when we got our present caravan; the charge on one battery lasted for ages.

I dislike the Nonancourt- Dreux section too. However, I think it’s the least bad option, unless you take the extra couple of hours to do the Le Mans detour (sorry for the pun). Anything close to Paris reminds me of the M25: N10 Rambouillet is stop-start; the outer peripheriques take you all over, weaving between the radial autoroutes; and as you found, the A86 west side isn’t caravan accessible (though the tunnel is really spacey if you’re no towing!). The options therefore are more limited than they ought to be: you have a choice between balancing speed and congestion, or

We have had Skoda Yeti 2.0tdi with a 6-speed DSG box since 2015, bought with towing a lightweight van in mind. It’s a vast improvement on a manual box, but as it’s the only auto I’ve owned, I can’t compare to others. We we have towed all over France with it, up and down some quite hairy slopes in the south. I’m impressed with it, especially it’s ability to gues what I’m trying to do with it. Initially I was knocking over the stick into manual for coming downhill, although a bit of braking makes the box go down the gears quite successfully. Still, on a long or steep slope it’s rea