Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
neighborhood if they think you need one.
Emergency medical care is Service d'Aide Médicale
d'Urgence (SAMU) and the national number is 15. For English
speakers, call S.O.S. Médicins 01.47.23.80.80. Also, many
hospitals have a “Médecine Sans Rendez-Vous” (Medicine
Without An Appointment!) service open during typical
working hours.
Even for those who intend to stay in France for a long
time, this may be a good i rst introduction to the system;
perhaps even an opportunity to meet your future “médecin
traitant”. You will see many foreigners in “Médecine Sans
Rendez-Vous” waiting rooms. But this service is also popular
among veterans of the system who simply woke up with
a nasty cough and couldn't get an appointment with their
normal doctor that morning.
WICE has a very complete book on health care resources
in France, which you can buy directly from them. See the
resources section in the back of this topic.
GETTING AROUND TOWN
French trafi c is exhilarating—or terrifying—depending on
your attachment to this existence and your understanding of
French rules of the road, written and unwritten.
The French appear to have little concern for life or property
once behind the wheel of an automobile. They take pride in
their highly developed driving skills, which they believe is
the reason that fewer tourists and Frenchmen die in road
accidents each year. (In fact it is because the rules are i nally
being strictly enforced.)
Up until 2002, France had the highest trafi c fatality rate
in Europe. Then President Chirac took up the challenge and
by enforcing stricter trafi c laws, he succeeded in reducing
deaths by 20 per cent. Not that you should relax. The French
highways still are still more dangerous than those of Britain
(the safest in Europe), America or Germany.
TAXIS
Riding in a Paris taxi should be sufi cient as a lesson to you.
Like other French drivers, these men and women, strapped
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