With a long drive ahead of us we awoke early today and we were on the road by 0830 heading towards Rennes. We dropped John and Anne off at the train station in Rennes where they took the high speed TGV train back to Paris.
The 733 KM drive from Rennes to Giroussens went relatively smoothly except for an allergic reaction that I had due to something I think I ate. At first I had a stomach ache then my eyes started swelling, and finally it started getting difficult to swallow. I had a similar incident about 18 years ago and I knew that a hospital visit would be in the cards so shortly after passing Bordeaux we stopped in at the emergency room of the Centre Hospitalier Pasteur. They immediately took me in, injected some drugs directly into my vein and then monitored me for about an hour to ensure that the drugs were having the desired effect. The drugs worked wonderfully and I began to feel normal again. When it was time to leave I had to pay the bill and I was very shocked when I learned that the price was only 23 Euros (about $35 CA). So at this moment I have a great deal of respect for the French medical system. The emergency room did not have the huge back-log of patients that I’m accustomed to seeing in Canadian emergency rooms. It was a very efficient pleasant experience if one can ever describe a hospital visit as such.
Anyway, after the hospital detour we continued on and reached Giroussens around 7pm. Long day, long drive!
Wow, that is an interesting story. Hope you are feeling well again. Were Emma and Liam happy you are back? And Diane?
Comment by off2europe2 — May 10, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
What an event-rich week you guys had! You must be tired but loaded with great memories and insights. Thanks for all the great installments and pictures.
Comment by off2europe2 — May 10, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
If you were a non resident you’d pay 300CAD plus for the visit to the emergency and would wait, wait and wait some more. Glad to hear your emergency room visit was positive and hope all is well now.
Comment by off2europe2 — May 10, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
Wow, crazy allergies and their crazy effects on bodies! I’m glad you’re alright, and that the doctors were quick in treating you….and that it was mad cheap, cause that’s totally awesome! (As opposed to paying like, $60US for them to tell you you have a runny nose when you came in cause your foot turned green or something……)
Comment by Sarah — May 10, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
We were lucky we found a small town with a hospital well marked from the roads.
Comment by marissa — May 11, 2007 @ 1:47 am