After the rather trying 5 days Jude spent in the hospital in Tours, it was time to take a leisurely dinner, spend one last night in the hotel, and catch a late morning TGV back to Paris.
Jude was pretty tired from the Big Thrash. We reviewed a few of the Big Thrash Details together and here's what we came up with.
Unlike in the States, when Jude was given her room in the hospital no one showed her how the facility worked, what the buttons meant, nor how to turn on the lights. The French must be born with this kind of information encoded in their DNA. After 5 days, Jude had figured nearly everything out.
Showering was an interesting exercise in anonymity. In the States a hospital wrist tag is impervious to nearly every known chemical, element, and natural disaster. It's function is to help everyone sort out who's who in the zoo. In France? Well, when you shower you become anonymous. Water makes it's way down the wrist tag and wipes the Vital Information carrying paper clean. Pretty neat trick, eh?
Entertainment in hospital rooms in the US may be limited to a few channels of cr*p, but at least the eyes have something to keep them entertained during sleepless nights. In France? Interested Parties need to find their way out of the bed (or rely on a reasonable proxy in the form of a family member who is perhaps more mobile) to head downstairs to visit the young lady who sits behind a wide counter. Her sole purpose is to sell you access to such things as TV and, um, More TV. They used to offer WiFi connections for pay, too. Times change. An End has been put to that Nonsense. At times it felt like we'd slipped out of Modern Day France into the depths of Medieval France. Jude was effectively cut off from the world during her hospital stay.
Ah. Here's a nice feature. The water cooler that sat outside the door to Jude's room acted as one of those Bed Vibrators that used to be found in cheap hotels all across that Great Land of America. We weren't able to work out, however, if this was an intentional benefit. If The Authorities knew about it, perhaps they'd want to charge for the service.
As for myself, I'd been taking a somewhat expensive taxi between the hotel and hospital. On Sunday night I called the taxi service and waited and waited and no one showed up. So I called the service back to see where my ride was and was told they tried to call me and no one answered. Huh. I'd not been called before, so why on Sunday night? At the start of the Spring Break? During Dinner Hour? Fortunately I spied a bus, sorted out what needed to be paid, took a seat, and was able to take the Cheap Way home in less time than I could've ever imagined.
After going through the Big Thrash and as Jude was preparing to (finally!) leave the hospital one of the nurses shared with her how they refer to a nurse (which Jude was) who's in a hospital bed. The French say that "she's crossed over to the Dark Side."
Jude was pretty tired from the Big Thrash. We reviewed a few of the Big Thrash Details together and here's what we came up with.
Unlike in the States, when Jude was given her room in the hospital no one showed her how the facility worked, what the buttons meant, nor how to turn on the lights. The French must be born with this kind of information encoded in their DNA. After 5 days, Jude had figured nearly everything out.
Showering was an interesting exercise in anonymity. In the States a hospital wrist tag is impervious to nearly every known chemical, element, and natural disaster. It's function is to help everyone sort out who's who in the zoo. In France? Well, when you shower you become anonymous. Water makes it's way down the wrist tag and wipes the Vital Information carrying paper clean. Pretty neat trick, eh?
Entertainment in hospital rooms in the US may be limited to a few channels of cr*p, but at least the eyes have something to keep them entertained during sleepless nights. In France? Interested Parties need to find their way out of the bed (or rely on a reasonable proxy in the form of a family member who is perhaps more mobile) to head downstairs to visit the young lady who sits behind a wide counter. Her sole purpose is to sell you access to such things as TV and, um, More TV. They used to offer WiFi connections for pay, too. Times change. An End has been put to that Nonsense. At times it felt like we'd slipped out of Modern Day France into the depths of Medieval France. Jude was effectively cut off from the world during her hospital stay.
Ah. Here's a nice feature. The water cooler that sat outside the door to Jude's room acted as one of those Bed Vibrators that used to be found in cheap hotels all across that Great Land of America. We weren't able to work out, however, if this was an intentional benefit. If The Authorities knew about it, perhaps they'd want to charge for the service.
As for myself, I'd been taking a somewhat expensive taxi between the hotel and hospital. On Sunday night I called the taxi service and waited and waited and no one showed up. So I called the service back to see where my ride was and was told they tried to call me and no one answered. Huh. I'd not been called before, so why on Sunday night? At the start of the Spring Break? During Dinner Hour? Fortunately I spied a bus, sorted out what needed to be paid, took a seat, and was able to take the Cheap Way home in less time than I could've ever imagined.
After going through the Big Thrash and as Jude was preparing to (finally!) leave the hospital one of the nurses shared with her how they refer to a nurse (which Jude was) who's in a hospital bed. The French say that "she's crossed over to the Dark Side."
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