My first article which was about St Gervais gave me a taste for writing that's why I've decided to write more in English and share my various experiences.This essay is about my holiday in Corsica . I stayed near Bastia for two weeks. I'm going to tell you about a special event which occured at the beginning of my stay.That day, the weather was sunny but there was a strong wind. Several German tourists had fixed a post in the sand to keep their sun umbrella upright.
I was about 10 meters from them, lying down and sunbathing and reading a very interesting book about crusades seen by Arabs by Maalouf Yamin. Suddenly an awful pain made me scream. My hat, sunglasses, book were suddenly scattered everywhere around me. I was trying to stand up when I saw the sun umbrella running on the beach. I realized right away that it had just hit my cervical spine. I crouched immediately, put my fists in the sand and tried to relieve the pain. I heard someone talking in the far distance but the person was close to me. I was almost knocked out!! I could neither move nor speak. Finally, after a few minutes I pulled myself together and an old German man close to me asked me if I wanted to go and see a doctor or get back home.
My boyfriend, who was reading a newspaper on the terrace of our bungalow, realized immediately that something serious had happened seeing that I was held up by the old man. I told him what had happened and he hurried towards the fridge to get some ice and fill a towel to put it on the nape of my neck for about an hour.
At 12.30, in France, chemists' shops are closed. I was not feeling well so I decided to lie down. I had an awful headache but eventually went to sleep. When I woke up at 4.00pm my boyfriend had gone to the chemist's to buy some homoeopathic medecine that I needed. But despite lots of tablets I was still suffering a lot.
In the evening, I had to go and see a doctor. After having looked at me for about an hour, the handsome and young doctor ( fortunately for me! ) gave me a prescription for a cervical collar and x-rays.The following day, I got up early to get the top of my spine x-rayed in Ghisonaccia ( near Bastia). When we arrived in front of the medical centre the door was closed. The cleaner told me that I should have gone to Porto Vecchio which was an hour-drive from Ghisonaccia! I got into my car again. On the way to Porto Vecchio I stopped at the chemist's, the one I wanted to get some medecine from, but was closed the day before.
A part of the road to Porto-Vecchio is beautiful, especially around Porto Vecchio with little coves and inlets of fine sandy beaches. Finally I arrived in Porto Vecchio's clinic. There, a secretary checked my name, my "sécurité sociale" number and my prescription, then she asked me to wait for a few minutes in the waiting room.
A few minutes later, I was called by a nurse and followed her to the X-ray room. The radiologist asked me to take off my shirt, earrings, sun glasses and hat and I stepped forward. Now, he started taking X-rays. After that, I put my clothes on and while I was waiting the radiologist was writing the report. Fifteen minutes later, she told me that there wasn't anything wrong but back to Paris I should see a chiropractor and she added : " Oh I think you're suffering from a beginning of osteoarthrisis. At that moment I didn't smile and thought: " Oh my god, I'm getting old!! I'm 53 and I feel great. Thanks a lot , Madam" We both laughed and said goodbye.I will remember my stay in Corsica for the rest of my life!
Acknowledgements : Photos provided by Chilaout Photos ( beach & terrace ) , Maody ( beach umbrella ), Marco$ ( Ghisonaccia ) under Creative Commons Licence via Flickr.
More about Corsica, its people, customs and way of life in a future article.
