Well it's been a quiet couple of days for the Oxleys. Graeme has been struck down by a lurgy and he's feeling pretty sorry for himself. Staying inside and keeping warm has been the priority at the moment!! Today saw a visit to the local doctor for the diseased one!
What an experience! It should come as no surprise that la salle d'attente (waiting room) was jam packed with people nursing an assortment of skiing injuries and winter illness'. What was amazing was the "french way" of dealing with the chaos. I have previously observed that the French are "Queuing Experts". The waiting room was another example. There was no "name taking or calling". People just waited patiently, using every available chair to sit on or wall to lean against. There was no numbering system, everyone politely took note of who had arrived in the queue before them no matter where they were seated and all proceeded in an orderly fashion. If there was any doubt, a polite group discussion took place and the correct person took their turn with the doctor.
Another reason for the overcrowded waiting room is that a visit to the doctor is apparantly a "team sport" in France. Everyone, not just the children, appeared to have at least 2 or 3 supporters with them. Again, the children were all superbly behaved, quietly reading their books or playing their computer games. For the record, the only screaming children we have seen so far have been english!! (What do they do with badly behaved French children? Do they still use la guillotine???)
Graeme was very lonely on his own without any family members to wait with him. There was no way I was going to sit beside him, in what I deemed to be a prime germ breeding pit. I was going to be no help at all if I too succumb to the lurgy!
So to entertain myself, I visited our local market. Tuesday morning is our usual market day in Les Carroz and to date we have always missed out due to travelling or skiing commitments. (Aaah we're just so busy!). Given the christmas influx, the crowd was impressive....and so too the range of cheeses and sausages on offer. A serious education and tasting programme will need to be undertaken in January when I can actually move freely between the stalls! I am sure I will be up to the challenge!!
I returned to the medical centre to find Graeme much happier after seeing a doctor and receiving a prescription for a range of (we hope) miracle drugs. The fact that the doctor was a young and extremely atractive woman, I suspect may have also helped improve his demeanour!
Tomorrow is NYE and we have been invited to join the Teste Family for a special dinner. We are very keen to attend and Graeme is doing everything he can to get better! We have our fingers crossed that with another quiet day and the miracle drugs we will see an improvement.
There has been little photographic work done over the last couple of days...so sorry but this is the best we could do!
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