I was hugely relieved when I left the CPAM offices on Thursday morning with a French social security number. This means that all the health care I arranged earlier in the week will be paid for and if I have any hiccups with my health – however serious – all I have to worry about is getting better again.
We were both impressed by the efficiency of the French system. It is different from in the
Some of this efficiency comes down to there being plenty of civil servants staffing the various offices. Each time we’ve needed something sorted out, it has been done there and then on the phone or by hand-written letter.
The new French president is a great admirer of how the British have cut back their ‘inefficient’ state bureaucracy over the past 25 years. However, efficiency for me is getting the right help or advice when I need it – something the
There is also a strong commitment to giving all people with long-term health conditions 100% free care which is actually better than the
So, I now have a provisional social security number and that will be transformed into a Carte Vitale over the next few weeks. I’ll need to take some photos and my passport back to the office after I receive a letter from them. I’ll also need to go back to CPAM to get a French EHIC card, it being done face-to-face here rather than by post.
Having left CPAM, we spent a couple of days relaxing, visiting the city’s botanical gardens and then taking a day-trip to the seaside on Friday. Although we were both tired – physically and emotionally – after a busy week, it was important to start having a holiday.
We’re now having a very restful weekend to recharge our batteries and to plan a more normal week. There is also the end of the Tour de France which, I guess, helps us to close the first chapter of our time in
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