The Pharmacy Experience

I love French Pharmacies! I know that sounds strange. But they are very pleasant helpful places. French Pharmacies are small, carrying only medicines and personal care products; but also provide medical advice. French pharmacists can diagnose minor ailments and recommend treatments. All pharmacists in France are highly qualified holding a Docteur en Pharmacie diploma, which takes 6 to 9 years to obtain.

When I ran out of my allergy medicine, Flonase; I needed to make my 1st trip to the pharmacy. Pharmacies in France are the only place where you can purchase over-the-counter medicine; they're not sold in groceries stores. At the pharmacy, there were 5 pharmacists at a long counter with small separators for a bit of privacy. When it was my turn, I asked the pharmacist if they had something with the same active ingredient as in Flonase. He did, but said that it is a steroid and I should be doing some kind of nasal wash regularly instead since it's a strong medicine. I decided instead to go with a natural product he recommended. We'll see if that works well enough. It was nice to be able to consult someone knowledgeable and know my options before buying. I also noticed that the customers seemed to know the pharmacists which was cool.

Here are a couple other ways French pharmacies are different from US pharmacies...

French pharmacies deliver prescription medication in the original packaging, you can take your medicine home right away. (Your name, address and other personal details aren’t typed up on a label.)

There are no pharmacy chains in France. By law, only pharmacists can own pharmacies in France and one pharmacist cannot own more than one pharmacy.