00_ Sisters at the two places in
hotels. No.-- and No.-- and part of -- are at La Baule in one enormous
new hotel, which has been taken over for the French wounded on the
bottom floor; the rest was empty till we came. We are in palatial rooms
with balconies overlooking the sea, and have large bathrooms opening out
of our rooms; it is rather like the Riffel in the middle of a forest of
pines, and the sea immediately in front. The expense of it all must be
colossal! Every one is too sick at the state of affairs to enjoy it at
all; some bathe, and you can sit about in the pines or on the sands. We
have had no letters since we left Havre last Thursday, and no news of
the war. We took till Sunday morning to reach St Nazaire, and at midday
were stuffed into a little dirty train for this place. I'm thankful we
didn't have to get out at Pornichet, the station before this, where are
Nos.--, --, --, --, and --.

The Sisters of No.-- who had to leave their hospital at ---- handed
their sick officers and men over to the French hospital, much to their
disgust. The officers especially have a horror of the elegant ways of
the French nurses, who make one water do for washing them all round!

_Tuesday, September 8th._--Orders came last night to each Matron to
provide three or five Sisters who can talk French for duty up country
with a Stationary Hospital, so M. and I are put down with two Regulars
and another Reserve. It is probably too much luck and won't come off.
The duties will be "very strenuous," both for night and day duty, and we
are to carry very little kit. The wire may come at any time. So this
morning M. and I and Miss J----, our Senior Regular, and very nice
indeed, got into the train for St Nazaire to see about our baggage, and
had an adventurous morning. The place was swarming with troops of all
sorts. The 6th Division was being sent up to the Front to-day, and no
medical units could get hold of any transport for storing all their
thousands of tons of stuff. One of the minor errors has been sending the
600 Sisters out with 600 trunks, 600 holdalls, and 600 kit-bags!! The
Sisters' baggage is a byword now, and we could have done with only one
of the three things or 1-1/2. We have been out nearly a month now and
have not been near our boxes; some other hospitals have lost all
theirs, or had them smashed up. We at last traced our No.-- people and
found them encamped on the wharf among the stuff,[1] trying to get it
stored