Going to the pharmacy in France is a very different experience from visiting a pharmacy in the United States or elsewhere. Here is all you need to know about picking up medication in France, as well as vocabulary to help you get everything you need while there!

In France, unlike where I live currently in New York, pharmacies are small little neighborhood affairs. There aren’t any chain stores like CVS or Duane Reade and they only sell drugs and health supplies, so you you can’t pick up a magazine or greeting card there. (Parapharmacies, however, do beauty supplies, so if you want to look for some shampoo or bath soap, look for a parapharmacie instead of a regular pharmacie.) The French pharmacist (le pharmacien ou la pharmacienne) also plays a very important role. Most medicines, whether prescription or over-the-counter, are kept behind the pharmacist’s desk and thus you will need to describe your symptoms to the pharmacist or request exactly what you need.

“Filing” a prescription also doesn’t exist in France. You might be surprised when you ask the pharmacist for a certain medication that you only need to take for five days and receive a box with ten pills inside. Pharmacists don’t fill medicine bottles with particular amounts of pills, but rather have stocks of medicine (pre-packaged in little boxes) that they can sell. This is great for one particular reason—you don’t have to wait for your prescription to be filled! If you have a prescription for an antibiotic (un antibiotique), for example, you can bring your prescription to the pharmacist and, within minutes, you’ll receive a little box with your medication, allowing you to head back home and rest up immediately.

One minor inconvenience, however, might be French pharmacy hours compared to the hours of big chain pharmacies elsewhere. French pharmacies may only be open until about 6 p.m. and can be closed on Sundays. However, if you are in dire need of medication, you can always find a pharmacie de garde. Each town or arrondissement is required to have a pharmacie de garde that stays open 24 hours a day in the case of medical emergencies.

Want to learn more about useful French phrases when you need medicine or are in pain? Check out this post on the Transparent Language blog.

Vocabulary

un cachet a tablet

un comprimé a pill

une pastille a lozenge

l’aspirine aspirin

le dosage the dosage

une goutte a drop

le médicament the medicine

un pansement a bandage

prescrire to prescribe

l’ordonnance the prescription