• Medication
  (in French)
• Hip replacements

Health

I'm not a hypochondriac - well not really.  However, as I have arthritis, I tend to have a morbid interest in things like the side effects of the various medicines I take and an optimistic hope that alternatives, like acupuncture, will help.

One of the reasons for taking early retirement was the need to have both hips replaced.  Having had these (one in Scotland and the other in France), I am relatively mobile, but have to cope with arthritis elsewhere, principally in my back, shoulders and knees.

Moving to France has been wonderful in terms of the quality of medical services.  What a contrast to the shamefully run-down National Health Service in Britain.  However, there are worrying signs that the French are heading for similar financial problems and toying with the same disasterous public/private partnership solutions as the British.