A bit of a catch-up here, we got up on Tuesday after a late night of Basketball and had to get packed up for our final big move of the trip. We got around and organized and called an Uber to take us to the train station as its a bit of a hike on mostly cobbled streets. We knew getting to our apartment by car was a bit interesting due to the nature of old town Lille and several temporary blocked streets but we had to request several times between 2 apps (Uber and Bolt) to finally get a driver. Once in though he got us right to the curb at the station and we were on our way.

We had 2 trains and the first was to Paris (Gare du Nord) then we had to transfer by metro over to Gare de Lyon for our long train ride to Nice. Overall things went smoothly and we settled in on the 6ish hour train to Nice. Train travel is just so relaxing and nice compared to the equivalent air travel.

We arrived in a hot, humid Nice about 830pm and decided to walk to the apartment offices to get our key then on to our old town apartment. Neither walk sounded that far but we didn’t take into account how much more humid it was down there and after acquiring our key and getting to the apartment we were both drenched and worn out. Becky especially but more on that in a bit.

I went out and grabbed us pizza from a place in old town that we had eaten at before and is just good cheap pizza in a variety of flavors. After eating dinner and watching a bit of Olympics on TV we went to bed.

We got up and Becky had already noticed a bit of a head cold but also had realized that what she thought was just a razor bump under her arm had become inflamed and swollen over the last few days. We did as the French do and went to a pharmacy first to get a care recommendation (the scope of the pharmacist’s role in France is a bit broader than in the US and a bit more focused on direct patient care). The helpful pharmacist recommended a local urgent care that didn’t require an appointment. We headed over to the clinic and after a short wait Becky got in and the doctor treated the bump and prescribed medication and rest. It would seem that while Becky’s immune system was busy fighting off the armpit intruder, a minor cold virus managed to sneak through the defenses, adding insult to injury.

We picked up her medicine, which was quite a different experience than in the US. We walked into the pharmacy with the paper prescription and back out a few short minutes later with the medication in hand (and €80 less in wallet), versus in the US where you might need to wait for an hour or more or even come back later, even if you’re not billing insurance and paying out of pocket. French healthcare adventure accomplished, we went back to the hotel with a quick traditional stop at a McDonald’s for lunch. Lesson learned: Always get your bumps and lumps checked out before you head out on vacation.

Becky rested and decided that a late night soccer match wasn’t in the cards. Chuck went ahead and got ready and made sure she had all she needed before heading over to the Stade de Nice to watch Canada play Columbia in the final group stage match for the women’s soccer tournament.

The game had a lot of stakes as both teams would advance with a win and Columbia would with a draw as well. It was back and forth all game and the fans from both sides were about even and it was fun to hear the ups and downs from both sides. Canada ended up scoring in the second half and holding on to win to advance. Columbia found out after that they were one of 2 extras to advance due to their overall record so a good night for both teams in the end. Chuck also says he loved the wide concourses at the stadium and wishes Q2 had put more thought into that aspect of the stadium.

Chuck got back in just after midnight and went right to bed.

Today’s highlights:

• Learning about the French medical system
• Le Croque McDo at McDonalds (it was just a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, but the name makes up for what the product lacks)
• Women’s soccer!
• Not getting pick pocketed

Tomorrow’s proposed adventures:

• Seeing how Becky feels
• Maybe an indoor, air conditioned spot like a museum (it’s difficult to keep an adhesive bandage on a sweaty armpit)
• Rest
• Hopefully not getting pick pocketed