Check out , hmmmm.

Finally I was all set to check out and go back to Nice. 

The problem was that La Palmosa had closed the front desk a half  hour before I was to leave on a Friday and it would be closed for the entire weekend!  No one had mentioned that this was their policy so my credit cards and jewelry etc. were still in the safe. 

 I threw a fit but no amount of objection would bring back the secretary who had already gone home.  This "person" and this policy turned out to be the weakest link in the whole hospital experience.  Everything up until this time had run smoothly and efficiently. 
I had to leave without my things but I warned the secretary on the phone the next day that I would be sending someone to pick them up.   This desk "person" protested that it had to be my husband only but in the end I sent my secret weapon…..my friend Allison, who had just returned from a trip and was wanting to help out.

 Allison is great at getting anything done that she puts her mind to. She just got her apartment building sorted.  She had protested for weeks to the real estate agency that there was a bad smell emanating from one of the closed apartments.   It was when she threatened to bring garbage into the office, that she got results.  The next day the offending locked and abandoned apartment was cleaned up!  

So off she went , passport in hand , and with a letter of procurement…. to do Monsieur and I a huge favor.    Of course, the office "person" meekly capitulated and she returned with all of my loot and some gifts as well.  

All in all, I think the Palmosa hospital was outstanding for a public facility.  I can now say that I have visited St Roch Hospital in Nice and that this hospital is a lot older, sadder, and less efficient.   In fact it took me about three days to get through to the right secretaries and hospitals even to make an appointment.  Not every hospital does "ankles".  

 And the fee for the whole week in Menton was exceedingly reasonable, even without being part of the social system.     It is just a matter of how long France can sustain such care.  I was lucky to be injured when the system is still viable. 

Next, the discovery of the private hospital.