There’s a blood drive coming to St-Rémy, which reminds me of my failed attempts to donate blood in France.

The last time I tried, I ended up with the world’s meanest nurse. I had filled out all the correct forms and was ready for her questions but she was so aggressive that she made me nervous. As in terrified. This caused my normally-placid blood pressure to shoot up so high that I was disqualified. When I told my neighbor about this she said, “Oh, you got her? Bad luck, she’s a well-known connasse.” (= rude French word)

The time before this, I was rejected for insufficient command of the French language. Yes, you have to speak decent French before you can donate blood! Read my story here to find out why.