114 is France's national emergency number designed first for deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people: you reach it by text or through a chat and video app, free, around the clock. Since 2020, it has also been open to anyone who cannot speak safely, such as a victim of violence whose attacker is in the same room. Operators pass the alert on to medical services, police or firefighters.
Chlorine on its own is fairly gentle. But when it combines with urine, sweat and other grime from swimmers, it forms chloramines, which cause stinging eyes and that classic 'chlorine smell'. A well-kept pool barely smells at all. Shower before you swim and never pee in the water.
Muscle mass slowly shrinks with age, putting independence at risk. But in 1990, a study had nursing home residents aged 86 to 96 train their legs for eight weeks: their strength more than doubled. Muscle responds to training at any age. Getting up from a chair without using your hands is already an exercise.