Doctor's Visit

What did I do yesterday? Well, in the morning I was sitting in the office with its wonderful internet when I saw one of the program directors and asked her to make an appointment with the doctor about this swelling under my chin that hasn’t gone away yet even though I fell over a week ago. Sure thing, she said. Next thing I knew, she had the doctor on the phone and was asking me, ‘is it urgent?’ No, I told her, I can certainly wait until Wednesday. However, the doctor had a free time slot at 4:00 that afternoon, and she was agreeing with that until I interrupted her to say that I had a class from 2 – 4. She then changed the time to 4:15, despite me saying that there was no way I could be on time for that. After hanging up, she whipped out a Montpellier map to show me this doctor’s office (it wasn’t the same one I went to last time) which was a really, really long way from the Corum. I repeated that there I could not possibly get to this building in fifteen minutes, which she dismissed by telling me that he was always late. Well, okay.

Mid-afternoon. Sam and I were sitting outside of the library, minding our business, when Whale-Tail here decides to cop a squat right in front of us, providing us with little other distraction. Even when all of her friends are masked in shadow, this girl looks like she has a spotlight on her.

My phonetics teacher must have sensed my eagerness to leave since I didn’t get out of the classroom until 4:06. I fast-walked to the tram stop, and had to wait for a tram to arrive, which came probably around 4:20. At least a ten minute ride to Corum, which already put me at the 4:30 mark. Then, I had to find my way to Rue Françoise, which was a hellishly long way up the street, then nestled in some back roads. I asked a passerby where it was, and she just gave me a strange look and said that Rue Françoise didn’t exist. Excellent. Finally, I made it there, to the very existent street, time being 4:49. I think I went amazingly fast, all things considered.

I did slow down enough to take some pictures of this lady’s roses. They seemed a bit incongruous with the fences and the barbed wire.



Oooh, pretty.

Of course, my appointment took less than ten minutes, after which the doctor (it turned out to be a woman) informed me that they didn’t take bank cards, only checks or cash. I never have cash. So I ended up having to walk all the way back to the Corum and then some to get money out, go all the way back, pay the darn bill for which I will be getting reimbursed anyway, then go the exact same way home. Plus, it was really hot and I was wearing a longer-sleeved shirt, and I think I forgot to put deodorant on, so I was not happy. This kind of frustration calls for …

A baguette and a Coca Light! Yay! I ambled blindly into the nearest bakery, willing to pay whatever abhorrent rates they charged, but luckily it only cost me two euros. Mmm. As a lovely bonus, the bread was still warm from the oven and as deliciously tasty as Monoprix’s, from which I base my comparisons.

Oh! Chaud. It’s a good thing I didn’t judge them by their sign, because nothing here looks delicious. There’s some boring toast at the bottom, then a flat thing that could either be some pastry with jam on it or a lame looking pizza, then what looks like a plain donut with a bit taken out of it, then a croissant half covered with mold. One redeeming feature, however, is the pun that took me awhile to get: Oh! Chaud in French sounds the same as ‘hot water’. But ‘hot water’ doesn’t make any sense when you’re naming a bakery.