Doctor's appointment in Paris...
On my first day here, I registered for La Parisienne, a 6K run around the foot of the Eiffel Tower scheduled for this coming Sunday, the 18th. http://www.la-parisienne.net/
Feeling so pleased with myself, I excitedly planned for the day: what I'd wear, what time I'd leave the house, where I'd go for some practice runs. And then I read the fine print, or actually, BOLD print: Attention ! : N'oubliez pas votre certificat médical !
CAUTION : Obligatory medical certificate for the taking into account of your inscription!
Medical certificate? I emailed my inquiry to the staff and received a speedy reply: "The medical certificate is a certificate wich is delivered by your local doctor. It proves that you’re able to practice running."
I wrote back: "Can my doctor in the U.S. issue a letter stating that I am a healthy runner? Can I provide proof that I recently ran a half-marathon at the end of July?"
La Parisienne's reply: "Hi, We are very sorry but, because of the law, we need you to give a medical certificat. We know that's boring but we have no choice about it...See you."
Quickly, I turned to my most trusted Paris resource, MESSAGE, the mothers' group I joined. I immediately received a few responses, all telling me that the medical certificate is required for insurance purposes and that I must have a local doctor issue one. A couple women kindly recommended their doctors, but after calling around, I wasn't about to pay 80 EUR for a certificate stating that I could run 6 kilometers.
Finally, one woman explained that certain généralistes will charge the minimum which is 20 EUR, but they must be designated as "conventionné, secteur 1". Long story short, another kind woman offered to make an appointment for me with her généraliste as she was going to bring her son in for an appointment this morning. She called me and said I had an appointment for this afternoon at 4:20pm with Dr. Catherine Renard at 1, rue de Dijon, in the 12th arr.
At 3:20, I packed Emmett in his backpack carrier, and off we headed to the metro. We arrived 30 minutes early, so we sat on a sidewalk bench and "chatted" with locals, or rather, friendly people sat down and spoke French to Emmett while I tried my hardest to comprehend and reply. (I'll bet he understood more than I did.)
My appointment with Dr. Renard was easy enough, 20 minutes. Fortunately, her English was good. She checked my blood pressure, had me do 30 squats in quick succession, checked my blood pressure again, filled out the certificat medical, and I paid her 20 EUR. We talked for a bit afterward: her late husband was Greek, she has two children, she grew up in Paris. Emmett sat in his backpack carrier the entire time and laughed at me as I did my knee-bends!
All this, just to be considered an official runner at La Parisienne!! But it was overall, a worthy exercise for me. Emmett and I got to explore a fun neighborhood in Paris (Cour St. Emilion), I now have a généraliste I can call on in the event of an emergency with any of us, and I have a medical certificate that doesn't expire for a year. Time to sign up for more races before we leave....
Feeling so pleased with myself, I excitedly planned for the day: what I'd wear, what time I'd leave the house, where I'd go for some practice runs. And then I read the fine print, or actually, BOLD print: Attention ! : N'oubliez pas votre certificat médical !
CAUTION : Obligatory medical certificate for the taking into account of your inscription!
Medical certificate? I emailed my inquiry to the staff and received a speedy reply: "The medical certificate is a certificate wich is delivered by your local doctor. It proves that you’re able to practice running."
I wrote back: "Can my doctor in the U.S. issue a letter stating that I am a healthy runner? Can I provide proof that I recently ran a half-marathon at the end of July?"
La Parisienne's reply: "Hi, We are very sorry but, because of the law, we need you to give a medical certificat. We know that's boring but we have no choice about it...See you."
Quickly, I turned to my most trusted Paris resource, MESSAGE, the mothers' group I joined. I immediately received a few responses, all telling me that the medical certificate is required for insurance purposes and that I must have a local doctor issue one. A couple women kindly recommended their doctors, but after calling around, I wasn't about to pay 80 EUR for a certificate stating that I could run 6 kilometers.
Finally, one woman explained that certain généralistes will charge the minimum which is 20 EUR, but they must be designated as "conventionné, secteur 1". Long story short, another kind woman offered to make an appointment for me with her généraliste as she was going to bring her son in for an appointment this morning. She called me and said I had an appointment for this afternoon at 4:20pm with Dr. Catherine Renard at 1, rue de Dijon, in the 12th arr.
At 3:20, I packed Emmett in his backpack carrier, and off we headed to the metro. We arrived 30 minutes early, so we sat on a sidewalk bench and "chatted" with locals, or rather, friendly people sat down and spoke French to Emmett while I tried my hardest to comprehend and reply. (I'll bet he understood more than I did.)
My appointment with Dr. Renard was easy enough, 20 minutes. Fortunately, her English was good. She checked my blood pressure, had me do 30 squats in quick succession, checked my blood pressure again, filled out the certificat medical, and I paid her 20 EUR. We talked for a bit afterward: her late husband was Greek, she has two children, she grew up in Paris. Emmett sat in his backpack carrier the entire time and laughed at me as I did my knee-bends!
All this, just to be considered an official runner at La Parisienne!! But it was overall, a worthy exercise for me. Emmett and I got to explore a fun neighborhood in Paris (Cour St. Emilion), I now have a généraliste I can call on in the event of an emergency with any of us, and I have a medical certificate that doesn't expire for a year. Time to sign up for more races before we leave....
posted by Lynna | 12:44 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, did you realize that the title for one of your posts is "The three of us are staying at my parents' ho..."?
Hi Anna!
Sorry, I should have clarified re: the squats... Emmett was in the backpack, but the backpack was sitting on the floor during the exam! Phew! I'm sure I couldn't even manage 10 squats with him on my back!
The backpack carrier has proven quite handy on this trip. We place him in it while we prepare dinner, so he literally hangs out with us.
Yes, the pressure's on! I better not trip and fall during this race....
So if you have to see a doctor and get a certificate to run a 6K, why don't the French post a bunch of ads and billboards that say "QUITTING SMOKING IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR HEALTH". Why create a barrier to those that want to be healthy?
Post a Comment
<< Home