A disgusting Blip...

...is what this little git is. This sand tick, or so we believe, managed to bury itself in my six-year-old's neck :(

Cue a visit to the doctor, which in rural France, is not quite as easy as phoning NHS Direct. Also cue Clairey's special attempts at Frenching-it-up to make oneself understood.

Apparently, you're not supposed to remove the tick, but to go directly to a medical establishment.

So a leg is still stuck in her neck as it can't be removed. We actually thought it was some sort of spider hence us pulling it out with tweezers. The little blighters seem to hold on well, and bury themselves into the skin quickly.

She is fine now, but a streaming broken English dialogue from the lovely doctor went like this: "...et, ummmmm, et, Lyme Disease et, ummmmm, bloof clot...et...." Ok. So not at all a scary problem.

Anyhoooooo, gay Paris tomorrow, so hopefully a less problematic day. Hopefully.