La grippe ou la rhume?

In the first place, let me suggest there is absolutely nothing 'common' about the common cold. My cold is quite exceptional and it's markedly uninspiring.

My nose runs at Niagara volume, and I have a charming hacking cough and then at night, that is the most fun part. That is when my nasal passages stuff up with some sort of concrete rendering breathing with the apparatus with which one is supposed to breathe impossible.

Consequently, I awaken three or four times a night with a tongue of sandpaper and a devastatingly evil taste in my mouth. I'm only too glad I don't drink any longer because an 'overindulgence' tongue on top of that would be simply intolerable. Nasal sprays don't work worth a damn for me because I overused them once following an earlier cold so now I've built up a tolerance to them.

So, the other day I went to la pharmacie and asked in my inept francais what would be good for this affliction. They gave me something called Humex Rhume. I'm not sure if it's working, or maybe the cold is just running its course and I would be where I am in any case.

As I said, I am getting better, and I am getting out and about, such as the day trip to Annecy the other day, but there is still more I want to do and to have the sense of wellbeing to do it. I gaze out the hotel window at the lovely French city below me and all I can think is that I want to stretch out on my couch at home (my haven) and watch daytime TV. Daytime TV in English, if you please. God, I'd even watch self-aggrandizing Oprah and the insufferable Dr. Phil, which gives you some idea of how irritating this all is.

All I would like now in my recuperation is to just feel even, oh, 98%, and then I might have little more zest for this all.