The Cost of Living

Now, I'm not normally one to complain about France or the way the French do things. Generally speaking I agree with how the system works over here and as a French friend once said to me (rather bluntly as they always do) "If you don't like it you can always go home." France can be a wonderful place to live but sometimes it just tests your patience.


There are a few things that have caused me some grief this month and I've decided to blog about them so my friends back home...and over the world actually, can see what it's like living in France.


1. This month I unfortunately became sick, I had what I think was the flu but it really knocked me sideways. I had a horrible fever, cold and was coughing like someone who'd smoked for 40 years. I had to leave work early on Friday and couldn't work  on the Saturday either so, of course, I had to go to the doctor. That's how it works in France by the way. If you are sick you have to go to the doctor's and get an 'arret du travail' to prove and to justify that you needed the day off. It makes sense, people have a day off for a hangover in the UK it's so easy just to call in sick. In France you have to really BE sick to have the day off, it makes you think about how sick you really are. Unfortunately I was sick on a Saturday and because I needed to get my arret du travail as soon as possible I had to find a clinic open on a Saturday. Finding an appointment was difficult as I originally wanted to go to my normal doctor in Alesia but they only worked until midday, the receptionist rudely reminding me "Well it IS a Saturday, we don't work all day." Oh of course EXCUSEZ-MOI. 


Anyway finally I found one at 2pm on the Saturday afternoon. I was reluctant to leave my apartment but keen to see a doctor as I really didn't feel well. All seemed fine, the doctor was on time and my appointment lasted only around 10 minutes. She checked my back and chest with a stethoscope, making sure my breathing was okay, she took my blood pressure, my temperature and noted down my symptoms. Nice and easy (all in French by the way, mini proud moment there for me). I remember when I was terrified to go to the doctor because I didn't know the medical words...it's not easy now but it's definitely easier. 


So everything was fine, she was a very kind doctor and even offered to prescribe me my inhalers as well as the medicine for the flu. I was just thinking to myself 'oh what a lovely doctor, maybe I will come here instead in the future it's much closer than Alesia and easier to find' blah blah blah. Unfortunately I got a very nasty shock when she told me the price of my consultation....wait for it.....SEVENTY EUROS, yes that's right 70 EUROS. That's around 7 euros a minute. I don't know why I didn't say anything then and there. Last time I went to the doctor it cost me 26 euros and the consultation was much longer. I think I was just in a state of shock, I thought maybe I'd misheard her but when she gave me the receipt I knew I hadn't been mistaken. I don't know why she charged me that much, she knew I spoke French so it's not as if she thought she could charge me whatever she wanted and I'd be none the wiser...Maybe because it was a Saturday, maybe because she was a replacement doctor, maybe it was because of the area (4th arr) I really don't know. I've gone over and over the possible reasons in my head and I still can't justify it. I almost called them later in the day to ask why I was charged such a ridiculous price but at the end of the day, I got ripped off, I paid it and there's not much I can do except learn from the experience and never make the mistake again. 


Funnily enough my colleague M was sick the same week, she doesn't speak French so I offered to go to the doctor with her and help her get her arret du travail. A colleague of ours recommended a doctor's really close to St Lazare station, which I later found to be open on Saturday's and you pay up front before you see the doctor so if you don't agree with the price you don't have to pay. Monique paid 23 euros and the doctor even spoke English. So...I got screwed over but I learnt a huge lesson from it and I will be going to the medical centre close to St Lazare if I ever have another illness. I finally understand why all my French friends don't go to the doctor, you can buy everything you need in the pharamacy (including a thermometer to use at home, I bought one) AND you don't pay for advice. The doctor's is now, I understand, a real last resort.


The other positive is that thanks to my Mutuelle (healthcare) I will EVENTUALLY get reimbursed some, if not all of the amount. It just means I am totally broke now until pay day.....................


2. Wow this is turning out to be quite a long blog maybe I was more frustrated at the French lifestyle than I realised. The second thing that happened this month actually wasn't something that affected me directly but that affected a good friend of mine. D has just moved into his new apartment and he needs all the basics; sheets, duvet, pillows, curtains etc...In England you could probably go to Primark and pick up all of this and more for under 100 euros. In Paris I couldn't even find a duvet for less than 85 euros....it's just crazy. Other things are relatively cheap but the things you HAVE to have are stupidly expensive. I was so lucky parents bought a lot of stuff for me from the UK, even good shampoo I haven't found for cheaper than 6 euros. Finally I donated my old duvet to D and we found some decent covers on boncoin.fr. I think in future I will look for everything second hand first before I even think about buying it new! 


3. I lost my temper with a saleswoman in Galeries Lafayette this week. I think after the doctor and everything costing so much in general I just lost my patience. As M and I were walking through Galeries Lafayette during our lunch break a saleswoman tried to offer us a perfume tester (just one of those little cards with perfume sprayed on). I ignored her because I already knew I didn't like the perfume to which she responded "WAIT" (in English). I am telling you now I just threw my toys out the pram. I explained how I would NOT wait, called her rude and stomped off. I just couldn't believe it. Okay, yes in France the language is more direct and yes you can say 'attends (wait) to each other like you do in English but only when you KNOW the person. It's very familiar language and like "tiens" (hold this) it is not really correct. Also for someone you do not know it's incredibly rude. I think I just got fed up with being spoken to rudely, no wonder French people go to England and comment on how polite everyone is........jeez. 


Anyway rant over, bring on July when I can head to Quimper with Ma and Pa and have a break from this madness. 

A breath of fresh air

This past weekend I found myself escaping to the countryside. It was, officially 'last minute.' I'd been craving to get out of Paris for a while (I was in the UK twice in May) but the opportunity hadn't really presented itself since then. Thanks to my colleague Paul I have been introduced to quite a lot of new people which has really made a difference to my knowledge of Paris (and beyond!) A lot of Paul's friends grew up here, or went to college here so they know so much more than I do about Paris. One of his friends, a lovely girl called Shona, has a holiday house in Samois-sur-Seine, just 40 minutes from Paris. A group of people were all heading there for the weekend and although I had been invited I had to work. Finally I decided (if it was okay with Shona) that I would work on Saturday and arrive afterwards. I needed a break from Paris and this was the perfect opportunity, plus I got to see Shona and talk to her more (before this weekend we had only met once properly).

Anyway I arrive around half past four and everything was running smoothly until.......I waited for an hour for a bus that never arrived. The boys had assured me the buses were running but after a long time we realised that most buses were running but not those to Samois sur Seine. So, finally I decided to try and take a taxi. At this point there were no taxis, I had already missed the only one I had seen at the train station and there didn't seem to be any in the taxi rank nor on the road. I was, apparently, stuck. Now, I love walking so again this did not seem to cause a problem so I called Dave and declared I was going to walk because I was pretty fed up with the bus and taxi situation. It turned out that it was too far to walk so very kindly Paul called a taxi to come and pick me up. I finally got to the house about an hour and a half after I arrived at the station and the first thing I did was open a beer. Bit of a palava but everything was alright in the end and it was definitely worth the wait.

I arrived finally in a tiny village that was full of cute little houses, brasseries, not a single cash point, one tiny boulangerie (bakery) and one tiny corner shop. And finally...I could inhale deeply without coughing, such a relief from the polluted city air! Saturday evening was spent drinking, eating and playing drinking games which always ended in laughter. We had to first describe someone without saying who they were, then we could only give one word to describe the person and finally we had to mime. As the game got more and more difficult and we drank more and more beer some people came out with some ridiculous mimes particularly for Charles de Gaulle. We had a walk down to the river where some of the guys played the guitar and we all wrapped up in blankets looking at the stars.

Sunday was spent relaxing, eating and drinking (again) and after lunch Dave, Paul and I took a walk down to the riverside to take some photographs (as the night before had been too dark and too alcohol based...ha). The riverside was beautiful and it was so nice to see genuine cobbled streets and old buildings. Samois sur Seine is also where Jazz artist Django Reinhardt retired and each year they have an annual Jazz festival in his honour. It was so great just to explore somewhere so green and I was so surprised that there were such nice little villages so close to the centre of Paris, most people don't know they even exist!

Thank you to everyone (especially Shona for allowing me to join you) for this lovely weekend a la campagne!