Not so shellfish

Took mum for an MRI in Montpellier today. The very modern Arnaud de Villeneuve clinic has a fantastic Siemens 3T MRI scanner which has, apparently, magnets that are twice as strong as those which pick up cars in a scrapyard. No wonder you have to remove all your metal jewellery, watches, pacemakers, piercings and false hips.

It all went fantastically well thanks to YouTube. Before we left I showed her exactly what to expect and what it would sound like. As a result, and with the aid of half a tranquiliser, it all went swimmingly again.

I was allowed to be in the room with her, having removed my metal leg, jewellery and skull plate. I was a bit worried about the metal staples in this month's RHS Garden magazine which I took in just in case I got bored. But it didn't fly out of my hands - fortunately.

Twenty minutes of bangs, crashes, hammer driiling, whizzing, whirring clicking later and she was released. Happy as a sandgirl.

We waited ten minutes for the scan photos and DVD of all the info to take to Monsieur Memory. Mum paid 69 euros, 60 of which will be repaid by the state and her medical insurance. Everybody was utterly charming and she'd only had to wait two weeks for an appointment. Not bad eh?

Our lovely chauffeuse, Ali, drove us back via the coastal road in the setting sun. The photo above was a drive-by as we passed through Meze where people were buying shellfish from roadside stalls.

A very good day.