Medecin

After turning up an hour before I was meant too, I managed to organise an extensive course of vaccinations at the French doctor's. The turning up early was not too much of a problem because I can see the roof of the doctor's from my balcony. This will be great for if I have to crawl there having contracted dysentery or something in Mexico, that'd be just my luck.

Despite making an ever so slight loss on appointments (we pay 23€ and are reimbursed the majority through Social Security) I do not mind at all. It's like going to private healthcare, not that I ever have: mine is a small surgery with a special children's waiting room and nice wooden floors and cosy Doctors offices. Helps that it was built in a house and not a custom-made clinic. It was so homely and small that I didn't really understand the receptionist situation. In fact, going through the main door, you are then faced with two doors and two doorbells. It's like something out of Alice and Wonderland. You have to 'Sonnez et Entrez', and then go through the door to find out that both doors lead into the same corridor. Strange. But I think they had different sounding doorbells depending on which doctor you had an appointment with. This also seemed to act as a way of making your arrival known to the staff, as there was no obvious secretary or germ embedded NHS touchscreen. Another girl waiting there did not know any better than me, so I sat with National Geographic (and it's seemingly incessant inca articles, no problem!) until Lovely-Doctor come to get me. Hand shaking is common in this sort of situation in France, but it must be so often that they are reluctant to shake the hand of some tuberculosed patient.

I don't remember if GPs in England all look like they work in TV hospitals because I always get palmed off to some nurse or other, but Dr Savet was so well turned out in her chic office that I felt like I'd gone in to visit the head of some fancy place in Paris. Or Cuddy's office. It was so nice and homely that I couldn't see any sterile gloves or fold out hospital bed so that must've been hidden away in another room or I had ended up at a pretend Doctor's surgery. We know a French GP, and so far all seem to have been ridiculously lovely people I want to grow up and be. She was really helpful in figuring out how to get a 6 month course of vaccinations in the five months I will have here, and looked in detail about whether rabies can be given at the same time with Hep B. For this I do not mind paying a little! Although it is a system where you immediately pay upfront and are given a reimbursment form, a bit like some NHS dentistry, it works alright and the paperwork substantially decreases once you have health insurance sorted. Although I cannot emphasise how good it is that you can just turn up at an NHS hospital regardless of where you are from and have access to healthcare, even more so for me because I don't pay taxes yet and it's free. It's also quite funny that I will have to physically purchase the vaccinations from the pharmacy and carry them across the road to lovely-Doctor to jab me with.

Off to Paris early tomorrow morning for a very extended weekend due to Armistice day!