OK, I confess — I also had a croissant. They were just sitting there on the bar in a basket. Three of them. I only ate one. I swear it's true. When I told the barman that I wanted a croissant with my little cup of espresso, he told me to help myself. I used self-restraint.
My Peugeot parked in front of the Hôtel de Ville inSaint-Aignan. It got new brakes yesterday.
I deserved both the coffee and the croissant. I had been fasting since the middle of the afternoon, after lunch, the day before. I had to go have blood drawn at 8:30 a.m. for a battery of tests. All routine, mind you. It's just that I'm 60 years old now so the doctor keeps tabs on everything from my incipient gout to my cholesterol and the state of my prostate.
« Quand vous serez bien vieille... » wouldn't apply to me even if it were in the masculine, because it's cast in the future tense. For me, old is now. Well, okay, maybe not that old. It's all relative.
And I'm not complaining. This is where I wanted to grow old. If it was good enough for Ronsard and Hélène...
Off to the doctor's now. Send positive thoughts about my blood pressure.
My positive thoughts are winging their way to you,
ReplyDeleteGG
Un café et un croissant sounds SO much better than my usual mad dash to Dunkin Donuts after a fasting blood test!
ReplyDeleteBlood pressure and cholesterol loom so d*** large in the life of the "senior citizen"...I'm 69 and am really tired of these two tyrants. I'm starting to just ignore them...the price one pays to die in great health no longer seems worth the effort to me.
GG, thanks. My blood pressure was 14:8 or 140 over 80, which is OK I think. The blood test results were pretty good, except for low potassium. That I can live with.
ReplyDeleteBill in NH, I hear what you are saying. I'm getting tired of it too. But what to do? My father died at 64, probably because of undiagnosed high blood pressure.
i inherited the hi blood pressure gene from my mother.....both my brother & i got it around age 40 (and he is a vegetarian, after all) now I take meds religiously & walk for exercise.....i stopped the meds for a few days to get rid of a cough and was thinking maybe now i don't need them since i walk more than i used to....but nooooo, still shot right back up...so yay for meds
ReplyDeletei would head for a hunk o camembert if i were u
Oh, Ken, I hadn't realized that you lost your father when he was so young. It seems like you eat so healthily, with all of the food you eat being freshly-grown and home-made. I'm sending my best wishes that your health will continue on the healthy path!
ReplyDeleteJudy
Ken
ReplyDeleteNice to hear the good news. As far as low Potassium ( could be caused by diuretic prescribed for peole with high BP) , one remedy: eat a banana everyday or beans. Baked potatoes are very good also because the P content is very high .
I have to go for blood test every 6 months because of low Ferritin level - so I know what it entails about fasting :-)
Un café and a croissant in a café is one of life's greatest pleasures.
ReplyDeleteApricots, fresh or dry, are supposed to be high in potassium too, for those people who don't like bananas.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a diuretic I take that lowers my potassium. I eat lots of beans, and bananas and aprictos fairly often.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I lost 2 kg over the past 6 mos. Not bad news.
Ignore the cholesterol level – the link between it and heart disease is generally so poorly understood I just wouldn't worry about it (and I was under the impression French doctors didn't either). Blood pressure is much more of a worry, so glad yours is OK. I hope your brakes were not too expensive. Elvis discovered that we needed new brake parts today, which caused a bit of oh la la-ing at the cost.
ReplyDeleteThe doctor seems more worried about the low potassium than about the cholesterol. Re: the brakes, I paid 205€ for new front discs and pads. Not too bad, I think. I think I have a good mechanic here in Saint-Aignan, much more reasonable than the Peugeot garage/dealer.
ReplyDeleteCafe and croissant is the one thing I would never tire of, AFAIK. But I only do it in moderation. (That's to say often in France and occasionally in the U.S.)
ReplyDeleteGreat news from your dr. visit. Hoping your eating beans to help potassium levels is controlled... if you know what I mean. I'm sure W still loves you.