Bloody Plumbing

That's it! Back from Mougins again, but not sans sonde (catheter) as hoped. My lower pipework is still leaking, as the x-rays they gave me to take home gorily illustrate. So re-admission in a week....

No criticisms of the actual treatment, which was excellent as usual. But the attempt was made more annoying as the hospital informed me, whilst doing the paperwork, that my carte vitale ('vital' is no exaggeration in terms of how indispensable this piece of plastic is) has been unilaterally and without prior warning rendered null and void by the local CPAM, occasioning no end of administrative tracasserie, and meaning that we personally have to foot the very steep hospital and health bills. Needless to say, the CPAM does not respond to our entreaties, and despite plenty of requests, has never clarified my position. We are not alone in being pissed off by them. The victims - mostly French - are legion, and the horror stories are the stuff of urban legend.

Despite all this, it is good to be out of hospital, and the celebratory walk along the breakwater of the quai des miliardaires in winter sunshine was bliss well earned.