Darkness stays later by the day and we don't stir until after 08:30

We plan on driving to Josselin this afternoon and visit the town tomorrow. After using the service point we drive up to the supermarket. An hour later we are ready to leave but Mary*Lou is as dead as a dodo, even the dashboard lights don't glimmer. We try the jump start pack but it's about the only thing that didn't get charged yesterday.

Nothing for it but call the breakdown services. Calling International Rescue… Credit to the insurers, within 40 minutes two mechanics arrive in Thunderbird 205, a pristine old green Peugeot and get us jump started.

We idle 20 minutes as instructed then set off, not for Josselin now but for Ploermel where another aire has electricity. The voltage rises with the miles and all looks well.

Nick is crestfallen when we plug in, start the charger and watch the battery volts tumble again. Could this be related to the glowplug warning light which stayed on earlier?

Nick rings Mike at the garage who advises that it is known for the glowplug relay to stick and this continues to draw a high current even when the ignition is off. If we can locate and disconnect the relay we will be OK for the next few days until we are home.

Ali wanders around the town and finds it has a very interesting astronomical clock. While it ticks away its time, all we can do tonight is kill time while we charge up the starter pack and hope we can solve the problem tomorrow.