Tamara Unleashed

My loyal readers know that I am interested in public toilets. Today in Cassis, a lovely coastal village south of Marseilles I discovered a public toilet that disinfected itself between every user. It was a bit confusing for those of us who didn’t understand the concept. Our initial encounter with one, we held the door open for each other between uses. Each of us came out and apologetically said, I couldn’t figure out how to flush the toilet. I was the last and sheepishly left without flushing the toilet after trying everything I could think of. There was simply no way to do it. On our second encounter when the door was allowed to close between one user and the next, we discovered that there was a period of time when the door was locked even though there was no one in there. There were sounds inside of water circulating and then the green light went on and you could enter.

It is a stainless steel chamber that makes you feel a bit claustrophobic on the inside. the toilet paper is above and behind the toilet. The sink and hand dryer are to the right of the toilet. Notice the floor and walls are shiny as they are wet from the cleaning process.

When you enter, the green light becomes yellow and says occupied. After you leave, the light again goes yellow and the door will not open while it goes through its cleaning process which includes flushing the toilet. Once the cleaning is done, the light becomes green and the next person can enter. The cleaning takes about 30-45 seconds. The only real problem is that you have to know to take your toilet paper before you sit down because once you are sitting, it is hard to reach above and behind you. I guess if the toilet paper were our in an exposed place as it usually is, it would get wet in the cleaning process. It was the highlight of the day for one of us (and surprisingly it was not me).

Cassis is about an hour and a half drive from St. Remy. It was raining as we drove down. We had a leisurely morning and arrived around noon when the rain was predicted to be over and it was lovely when we arrived.

This is our view as we ate lunch – wonderful seafood – shrimp, calamari, salmon and mussels with yummy bread.

Above where we were sitting was this old castle on the cliff.

The harbor was lined with restaurants and the next block were quiet streets.

We took a one hour boat tour of the “creeks” just north of Cassis. The first “creek” was a small, sheltered marina; the second was a protected swimming area accessed by hiking in surrounded by rocks; the third had a sandy beach but accessible only by hiking in.

The country side driving home was stunningly beautiful – hard to capture on the camera. Blue skies with puffy clouds and lush green all around. We took the freeways on this adventure and there were tolls on some roads. It seemed a bit random as to what segments were toll but it was pretty easy to figure out. We discovered that the French drivers tend to cut in as soon as they have passed you rather than waiting until they can see you in the rear view mirror as we were all taught. It took a bit to get used to.

Tomorrow is our last day for the 4 of us. Two are doing a cooking class and two of us are doing a biking tour with wine tasting. Mary leaves early Saturday morning. The rest of us will visit a old friend of mine in a village about 45 minutes west of here. She has a French mother and American father.She grew up in France; did medical school in Spain and urology residency in the US which is how we became friends. She worked in the US and retired to Provence. Lucky woman.

Today was a laid-back quiet day in St. Remy. There did not seem to be too many of the same vendors as the weekend market. There was on that was the same and it still didn’t have the jacket in the right size for me – too bad because I would have bought it. There was a very charming man with lovely silk wool scarves. I said I was not interested as I did not need another scarf, We had asked him to help pick out a scarf to go with my friends new dress. He tied the scarf in a new way and he wanted to pick out one for me. He immediately picked out one for me and tied it around my neck. I did love it and bought it. I asked him how often that worked for him and he said almost always.

The streets are so charming. Flowers everywhere. We had a lovely evening of wine and snacks on the terrace, followed by a salad and sautéed vegetables for dinner on the terrace until 10 PM. The latest we have been up so far. It was lovely. Somehow the song Amazing Grace came into the conversation giving me an opportunity to share my daughter in law singing a wonderful rendition of Amazing Grace at sunset.

I have not had any pain at all, only some mild numbness in the morning so I am going to try sleeping lying down tonight. I have used my topical diclofenac and taken torodol. I have also been avoiding playing Soduku on my phone so I hope I will not trigger the pain. Fingers crossed.

Tomorrow we will venture south of Marseilles to the coastal village of Cassis. It is amazing how quickly the time is going.

We left at 830 AM for an all day Wine Tasting with Francois, the owner of Avignon Wine Tour. We drove an hour or so to tour 4 wineries north of Avignon. We had lunch and he drove us through a few of the old villages. Francois wore a bright orange/red suit and had a lot of personality. Prior to starting his wine tour company 18 years ago, he was a maitre-de for nearly 20 years. He changed careers because being on his feet 14 hours a day was not sustainable. He knew food, wines and Provence so it seems to be a good fit.

We spent an hour at the first winery going carefully through the steps of wine tasting: Color, first nose, second nose, legs, taste and 3rd nose. There are 7 categories of smells/tastes: flowers, fruits, food sensation, soil, spices, leather/oak and animal. There are 85 individual scents. People who can identify all 85 are called “noses” and there are about 100 “noses” in the world.

There was one major rule – use glasses with stems and never hold the wine by the glass – always the stem so you do not transfer body heat to the wine. When it is warm outside, always do small pours so wine can stay cool in the bottle. Screw tops are fine for white and rose but they only keep wine good for about 3 years. Red should have cork. We learned how to guess the vintage by the color – ❤ years, 3-9 years and > 9 years.

Francois took notes as he was teaching us and he gave us the notes at the end.

The day was warm and sunny and the countryside was gorgeous.

One of the wine tasting places was an old home that was converted maintaining elements of her grandmothers kitchen.

When we returned home, we were finally about to sit out on our little terrace for more wine and snacks.

I was unleashed on this market today. Two of my fellow travelers are shoppers and love to buy things. I generally get a bit bored with their back and forth about whether they should get this or that. Of course they don’t NEED anything. So today I announced I did not thing I would buy more than a couple of souvenirs. WRONG. I walked away with more than anyone. It was an awesome market. Half of what I got was gifts but close to half was not. I had a great time. I think my shopping for the trip is over.

After two days here I already understand why Kay’s friend has come back yearly. I am sure there are many places in Europe that would have a similar feel, but this area is very enjoyable. There is only one more rainy day left – tomorrow and it has not rained hard so getting out is not a problem. Tomorrow we are headed for Port du Gard where there is a Roman aquaduct. There are too many “must see” things to do here for this to be the only trip to Provence. Deb – when do you want to go with me?

Below are pictures from the market – a Great day!! I got some of the Paella for dinner – while I did not exactly taste it, it was good none-the-less.

Lambs and dogs made from rubber boots.

Amazing old building with old stonework.

My friends who did NOT sleep on the plane across the Atlantic slept until 1230 today. I was awake at 6 for a few hours and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. The first task was to move the car before the time expired. We easily found the free public parking. At the entrance to the parking lot there was a sign for a toilette and urinal The toilette was behind a door but the urinals were just in the side of the building.

We snacked on bread and cheese with our coffee and then 3 of us went out for coffee at a sidewalk cafe. It had been easy to get a cappuccino with soy milk in Madrid and Marseilles but I could not communicate it to my waiter (garçon – one of the French words I remember) today. I ended up with an espresso with steamed mild and whipped cream on the side. It was lovely and you never feel rushed at a French bistro.

We went back to the grocery store for more wine and paper products and did a little shopping. Nothing really tempted me thus far. Truffles are very big as they are harvested in this area. There are 2 shops for just truffle products within block of where we are staying.

We had a spirited cocktail hour with the 4 of us and Carolyn and her daughter. Carolyn comes here every year for cooking lessons so she is very familiar with St. Remy. Starting tomorrow, they will be staying in the apartment next to ours.

After cocktails we went in search of an ATM with a “red bird” near the carousel that did not charge such a high percentage for the conversion. I don’t think we found the right place but we all got the Euros we needed to pay the Airbnb owner in cash.

We walked by the pink pig again so I got a picture of her face. I felt bad about just photographing her backside yesterday.

We decided to eat at a restaurant that had an item with Thai sauce in hopes I could taste the sauce. We did not have a reservation. It was completely full indoors and so we took a table outside under an umbrella in case it rained. They appeared to have 2 waitresses for25-30 tables.

We waited a long time to get a menu and a long time to order; the food did not take that long to arrive. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and then we waited and waited and waited for the check. The waitresses spoke minimal English. I thought I had seen one of the waitresses bring a check out to one of the tables but in retrospect that may not have been so. We eventually went inside after waiting nearly an hour for the check. It seems the expectation was that we went inside to pay. I am not sure if that is the same for all restaurants or if that was because they were short-staffed.

I lasted the Thai sauce that came with the salmon tartare and ate too much bread making sure I tasted every last bit of it.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Assessment of NIH Research onWomen’s Health  Deadline: May 26, 2023   The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is seeking suggestions for experts to participate in a new study, “Assessment of NIH Research on Women’s Health.” The goals of the study are to develop a framework for addressing the persistent gaps that remain in the knowledge of women’s health research across all NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) by exploring the proportion of NIH research on conditions that are more common in or unique to women, establishing how these conditions are defined and tracked across the lifespan, evaluating sex differences and racial health disparities in research, and determining the appropriate level of funding that is needed to address gaps in women’s health research at NIH.  National Academies staff will build a committee of approximately 15 volunteer experts in addition to collecting information for potential speakers, participants, and peer reviewers for any publications resulting from the activity.  Expertise in the following areas is needed: – Social science – Basic science of sex differences research; – Women’s health including, but not restricted to, general internal medicine, cardiology, endocrinology, diabetes, obesity, nephrology, preventive medicine, reproductive health (e.g. obstetrics and gynecology, maternal fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, menopausal health) – Clinical trials and research (including ethics) – Health disparitiesHealth policy – Health economics – Use of research for regulatory purposes We invite you to submit your suggestions by May 26, 2023 at 12 a.m. ET. Learn more about the study here.  SUBMIT NOMINATIONS The National Academies are committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion in order to strengthen the quality of our work. Diverse perspectives contribute to finding innovative approaches and solutions to challenging issues. We encourage the nomination of volunteers who reflect the populations we serve and also welcome in particular nominations of candidates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, and early- and mid-career professionals.  Help Spread the Word!

This volunteer opportunity was sent to me by a friend, If I were selected, I could bring a valuable, unique perspective with an understanding of the structural barriers within the NIH that limit the ability to implement well-intentioned recommendations.

When I first read this, I felt a surge of energy about the possibility of being able to stimulate meaningful change for women’s health one more time. However, it would pick at wounds that are scabbed over but not completely healed.

I have a few days to reflect on this. I am open to thoughts.

We arrived in St. Remy de Provence about 530 PM. I drove from Marseilles as I was the only one who managed to get some sleep on the plane. I did not have any pain in my hand, just a bit of mild numbness in the morning so my hypothesis that sleeping lying down is more likely to trigger the pain was supported.

The closer we got to St. Remy, the narrower the roads got – not Ireland narrow and without adjacent tall hedges blocking visibility, but the 35 mph speed limit seemed fast. My iPhone integrated into the Nissan’s system which made navigation easier. There are A LOT of traffic circles. The countryside looks just like many paintings I have seen – olive trees, grape vines and quaint old towns. I am ready to go exploring on a bicycle.

.We managed to find a parking place reasonable close to where we are staying and parked for 19 hours. Tomorrow we will move the car to a spot further from the center of the city where we do not have to worry about time running out on the virtual meter.

The airbnb is 3 levels. The stairs are steep. Each sleeping area has its own bathroom/shower. I have the futon to myself managed to arrange enough pillows that I could sleep in a partially relined position. I am awake at 6 AM feeling pretty normal with no pain and mild numbness.

Moving a wall in these old buildings requires some serious tools.

We went out to eat about 6 PM only to discover that the restaurants don’t open until 7 PM.

We discovered a pig with a pig beret looking in a window. She cooperated for a photo op.

We went shopping and brought back wine, cheese, bread, olives and snacked until we were full enough to go to bed.

I struggled to pick out a bottle of wine because the French wine labels are so boring This is the most interesting I could find. It was quite good – $5/bottle.

Our plan is to explore St. Remy today and then go from there.

Using topical diclofenac, a Tramadol, wrapped elbow to keep it from bending, wrist brace and sleeping in a partially reclined position on the couch, I did not wake up with pain. This is a very poor experiment because I have absolutely no idea which of the interventions was helpful. I am going to see if I can get some more Tramadol before I leave for airport at noon. I am also going to get a lidocaine patch to use. I have had intermittent mild numbness in my hand this morning but NO PAIN.

Off we go to St. Remy de Provence.

At 5 AM I was awakened with severe burning pain and numbness in my hand from my carpal tunnel. I thought it had been moderately severe before, but this was a whole new magnitude. I was wearing my wrist brace. I got up and started pacing. I grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer. I decided there was no way I could go to France tomorrow with so much pain. The pain was 10/10 for 10 minutes and then 9/10 for 10 minutes and then gradually subsided over 90 minutes to spotty mild numbness and then gone for rest of the day. I have a whole new understanding of what “Crazed with pain” means.

I ultimately decided to come to Spartanburg and try several different things to try to avoid the pain tonight. I will wear the brace again. I “borrowed” a Tramadol to see if it will help; I took some Aleve midmorning and have used topical diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory. I am going to sleep sitting up as I do think lying supine makes it worse. The nurse said to try keeping the elbow straight so I will try to wrap it in an ace bandage to see if that will help me not bend it while I am sleeping. Fingers crossed.

When I left Nashville, my thinking was that if in spite of all of these changes, I still woke up with severe pain, I would not go on the trip. But as I had a pain-free day, I can suffer with the morning pain in France or Nashville. If I go back to Nashville, I could hope for a cancellation on the schedule to get the procedure before June 5th but that is not that likely.

So as I prepare to sleep, I hope I will be on the plane to visit St. Remy de Provence later tomorrow.

This is what the cut looked like on Sunday – 24 hours after injury. It was a bit red with a bit of swelling but I thought it was related to having a tight bandage on all day.

Above is midday yesterday before starting the antibiotics and below is this morning after 2 doses of antibiotic. I had to see my doctor to get them and she reminded me I need to take cuts on my hand seriously because they can quickly become problematic.

What did I learn from this experience – dull knives can cut particularly with a lot of force behind it. Don’t do stupid things at the end of a long work day. Don’t superglue a wound that has not been thoroughly cleaned. Get antibiotics for hand wounds especially when cut is from a dirty knife on a dirty hand. Use a better tool to cut the blue board.

Sunday one of the other Supervisors on Site lended me his Fat Max utility knife which worked much better because the blade extends much farther to do a deeper cut in the blue board.

My very own Fat Max will be delivered today.