Moments later, rather expensive moments but worth every euro to Lucy, she was debarking in front of the hospital, which, she was puzzled to learn, was also a hotel. Handy, she decided, in case you wanted to be near a sick loved one, but rather weird if you were vacationing. Who would want to spend their vacation near a bunch of sick people? There was so much about France that she didn’t understand. For instance, why did they have an enormous tomb for Napoleon, who had really brought an awful lot of grief to the French people?

Once inside, she followed the arrows on the accueil signs that indicated the reception desk and found herself in a hospital lobby that looked a lot like hospital lobbies in the United States, busy, with people coming and going. Some were obviously visitors, carrying flowers and gifts, others were uniformed health-care workers, and there were even a few departing patients being pushed to waiting taxis in wheelchairs. The reception desk was front and center, so Lucy approached, trying to dredge up the appropriate French words, which had long been buried in her mind.

“Bonjour, madame,” she began, aware that failing to offer a greeting was considered rude in France. “Je cherche l’information d’un patient, nom de Laurence Bruneau,” she said, feeling rather proud of her linguistic accomplishment.

The woman behind the counter replied with a string of rapid-fire sounds, which Lucy could not begin to comprehend.

“Parlez lentement, s’il vous plaît,” Lucy said, getting a repetition of the same speech.

“She said that information is not available, because of patient confidentiality,” offered a woman in line behind her. She was obviously wealthy, dressed in a suit that even Lucy recognized as a genuine Chanel, and carrying a large alligator handbag, which contained a ridiculously small dog sporting a pink bow in her topknot.

“Merci,” said Lucy, wishing she had enough facility in French to convince the receptionist to change her tune. But as it was, she didn’t want to monopolize the receptionist’s attention when others also wanted information. She stepped aside, yielding her place to the helpful woman, who gave her a smile and a nod at the same time that the little dog leaped out of the bag and onto the reception counter, going straight for a vase of flowers and knocking it over.