Why I Love French Pharmacies

After a long flight from California a few years ago, we arrived in Provence and checked into our little hotel hamlet opposite St.-Paul-de-Vence. I was happily unpacking things, deciding what to put where in our spacious teak and tile bathroom with lots of drawer space. Finally I picked up my container of pills and discovered, to my horror, that one vital vial was missing: the thyroid medication. At the Dallas airport we had stopped to purchase trip insurance, and the brochure gave a hot-line number to call if assistance should be needed. I called the number and waited for what seemed a long time, imagining someone, somewhere, in a neat little white office sitting at a telephone and efficiently handling one emergency call after another. Finally a woman with a British accent answered, but it turned out she was in Paris. I explained my problem and asked whether a courier could be dispatched with the medication, one of the options in the insurance brochure. Certainly, replied the woman, but it would cost about $500. She suggested I see whether someone at home could send the pills. Good idea, I thought. I called our cat and house sitter and explained what was needed. Jim quickly tracked down the medication and said he would send it the following day by some overnight service. Problem solved. We settled down to enjoy what was left of the beautiful Provençal evening. When the telephone rang–early–the next morning, it was Jim on the line from California. He had taken the pills to our local parcel-dispatch service, only to discover that France didn’t allow medications to be sent in from another country, as they had plenty of their own. Okay. Next plan. I asked Jim to photocopy the pill container’s label and fax it to us at the hotel. He did, and the picture arrived, looking a little wavy. I again called the insurance hot line and was told that I would need to consult a local doctor, who could then authorize a new prescription to be filled at a French pharmacy. The agent suggested I ask our concierge for names. The concierge was in fact the owner, and he was English. When he heard my tale of woe, he directed us to a medical clinic nearby that happened to be across from the local pharmacy. I thought I might as well stop there first and ask the pharmacist whether the medication I needed was available. “Bien sûr, madame,” was the response, “and we can simply fill the prescription as it is written on the bottle label. You do not need to see a médicin for this. In France we pharmacists have the authority to replace forgotten medications in many instances.” He looked very proud; obviously these things were done better in France than in the U. S. I was amazed to learn that the price was about one quarter of what the pills would have cost at home. That was the beginning of my love affair with French pharmacies. I soon learned that yes, pharmacists in France could indeed dispense some medications without the need for a doctor’s visit and that they were skilled in diagnosing ailments and giving advice as well. When I consulted a pharmacist about the problem of the classic traveler’s stomach complaint he told me “Pas du chocolat. Pas du lait. Pas de tomate. Beaucoup de riz,” and sent me on my way with some tablets. They worked very well. On our last trip my husband caught a terrible respiratory virus. Off I went to the local pharmacy, explained the complaints, and came back with assorted tablets and capsules, expertly chosen by one of the staff. Sufferers in French pharmacies are not left to hunt through the shelves on their own and guess at what might be needed, and the pharmacists give detailed instructions that leave no doubt when and how the medications are to be taken. (Or, in some instances, where, as the French are fond of suppositories.) And by the way, it’s to French pharmacists that people go with wild mushrooms they have gathered to find out whether any are poisonous. All that and Roger et Gallet soaps too. Is it any wonder I love French pharmacies? —Jean Underhill and her husband travel to France as frequently as their family of cats will allow.