A New Sparkplug Needed

 

Reunited with Moto Naranja

After two years I was finally reunited in Grenoble France with Moto Naranja, the intention being to ride to Warsaw Poland over the next six weeks. However intention and actuality are often not one and the same, as I will now relate.

Buckingham Palace

The day before arriving in France I had stopped off on a sweltering hot day in London to welcome Harry and Meghan home but was very disappointed to find that they really had no interest in seeing me.

The Thames

I am not sure if it was the hot day or the rejection by the royal household but after crossing the muddy, drought ravaged Thames I made my way past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament to the London Eye, my vision suddenly narrowed and I fainted against a tree. Nobody came to my rescue as I am sure I was just seen as another drunk tourist. I managed to then stagger to a bench in the shade where I slowly regained by senses.  I put this episode down to heat and dehydration and so the next morning early I flew from Heathrow to Lyon France.

I stayed with my South African friends at their beautiful home just outside Grenoble where my motorcycle resides when I am not there. After a day of motorcycle repairs and a hike up the mountain from Chamrousse I was still feeling dizzy and so was taken down to the village doctor. Luckily I had my friend Alan along with me to interpret but after a quick EKG I was packed off to the cardiology department at a clinic in Grenoble, a twenty minute drive away.

A new Spark Plug needed

I was soon hooked up to all sorts of monitors and another EKG showed my heart fluctuating between 35 and 55 bpm and so it was decided that I needed an immediate heart pacemaker ( spark plug ) installed. At 5pm on a Friday afternoon the surgeon had already gone home but she put her weekend plans on hold and came and excavated a hole big enough in my chest to bury this marvel of modern medicine, and just like that my heart was back to it's old happy self. What amazing care I received at the Bella Donna Clinic and am to grateful for the nurses, surgeons and all the wonderful people who helped me. The next morning I walked out of the clinic feeling fantastic!

Dublin airport

Four days later I flew home via Dublin and of course had to have a pint of this sweet nectar with my breakfast just because I could.