Saturday Busy-ness

This morning's bounty

We are all impatiently awaiting spring's arrival--for good.  She (is spring a she?  I think most definitely) has been teasing us with little glimpses of nice weather, but then drenches us in more rain.  Last Sunday was particularly wet--a day I haven't seen the likes of since leaving Oregon.  I was a little dismayed to see that today, Saturday market day was drippy.  However, I didn't live all those years on the Oregon coast and not learn how to cope with a little drizzle, so I grabbed my basket and headed out to the markets--starting with the "Arab" market to get some sliced almonds.

I hadn't been to this market in a while.  It's mostly clothing and 1 euro flea market offering  kitchen gadgets, and purses.  You can, however, score a mattress or a terra cotta tagine or some knock-off perfume for about 3 euros a bottle....and I am not too proud to say I have purchased some from time to time.  What I do love to buy at the Arab market are spices---the cinnamon and ginger are intense.  I also like to use this one guy in particular for almonds, especially sliced ones.  While not cheap, his prices per unit are much less than what you'd find in the supermarket.  Alas, he was out of them this morning, so I was out of luck, but I did score an Old El Paso hard shell taco kit.  I won't use the spices, or the packet of salsa, but hard shell corn tortillas are nearly impossible to find here, and I prefer them for the 3 times a year that taco are on my menu.

Now it's time to get busy

From there, it was a stop for some chicken livers at a little store that sells roast chicken and parts of poultry--turkey, chicken, guinea hen, and some different kinds of sausages.  It's a family business...the middle and younger generations handle the cooking and waiting on the customers and Grandma mans the cash register.  Nobody else handles any money!

Plants need to be potted

Then on to the produce stands--because of the rain, this market, like the Arab market, was a little smaller today, but everything I needed or wanted was readily available, except for the mussel vendor.  I was thinking of mussels for tomorrow's supper, but salad Nicoise will do instead.  Even after nearly three years here, I occasionally fall under the spell of all that beautiful fresh produce and over-buy.  I sort of flirted with that today, coming home with radishes, carrots, a zucchini, an eggplant, fresh mushrooms, string beans, and my splurge of the week--fresh peas.  This was accompanied by a little balsa wood basket of fresh strawberries, and the teeniest pineapple I have ever seen.

Strawberries can be hit or miss here, I have found.  I prefer the ones grown in the Aude, but sometimes they can be a little watery.  The berries I bought today taste like the ones I remember plucked from our patch in Creagerstown when I was a child some 60 years ago.  I bought these from the man who grew them and told him that my family, back in the United States, when I was a child, also raised berries.  We swapped stories about varieties, and how much work goes into a strawberry field.  He was delightful.  

Upon coming home, some real work needed to happen.  Peas needed to be shelled.  I snapped and cooked the string beans.  The bunch of radishes are cleaned and trimmed.  I made guacamole from an avocado I bought earlier in the week--it was at the perfect state of readiness.  I made chicken stock.  I picked the carcass that I used for the stock and made chicken salad.  I cleaned the strawberries and sliced them.  Some of the carrots from the bunch are now sticks ready for hummus. What I have learned is that overcast Saturday afternoons are perfect for cleaning and preparing all the food I have brought home from the morning's market.  Now it's ready for the snacking and I will have no excuse not to eat healthily.  And I can rest from food prep, at least for the remainder of the weekend.

Alcobaca Portugal porcelain pot--ugliest in the world

I bought the ugliest pot in the world at the "junk" store (where I get my greatest treasures). It's so ugly that I had to have it,.  It does help that it is the perfect size for re-potting my jade plant.  I also found earlier this week, the greatest garden supply store ever and bought a pot of mint and a pot of basil for my window garden.  And I got some new little red geranium plants for the street side windows.  I had planned to do some plant-potting this afternoon, but the day has gotten away from me--it was all that food prep (and a 90 minute Skype chat with my sister).  I hear the bells of Saint Vincent ringing en chaine, so it must be nearly 6 in the evening.  I should go out into the kitchen and start dinner, but funny thing---I am not in the least bit hungry.  Later, when the pangs start pinching the walls of my stomach, I will be able to quell them with plenty of vegetables that I have already worked on.  Good plan!  All of today's busy-ness will pay off.

Trailblazing the French Healthcare System

Aside from the food and the "rudeness" of the French, the thing many of my American friends seem most curious about is the French health care system.  I actually received my Carte Vitale in October 2016, but have had no cause to use it until recently.  Maybe I can help clarify how the system works, but I can relate only MY experiences with various parts of it.

 

My Carte Vitale and my mutuelle card

First of all, I believe that once a person has been living in France for h3 months--which means they are on a legal visa of some sort, the person qualifies for health care in case of a catastrophe--cancer, an accident.  Also, once that three months has passed, the person is eligible to apply to become part of the French system.  I did not do that; instead I waited the full year and applied for my Carte Vitale at the same time as I made my first carte de sejour renewal.  (The carte de sejour is the card that says I am here legally)

Because I don't believe I am entitled to something for nothing, I also bought what would be the equivalent of a Medigap policy.  Such policies are called mutuelles here and provide coverage for things that the French system does not completely cover.  My mutuelle covers things like vision and dental care, in addition to lab work and parts of some prescriptions. Medicare does NOT cover you if you don't live in the States.

I have been having some vision issues that come with birthdays and went to the ophthalmologist  after waiting 5 months--a little short of the average of 6--for an appointment.  She speaks no English, but my French is good enough to negotiate my way through an exam.  Reading from the chapbook was a little funny, though....she couldn't tell if my hesitant reading was due to my eyesight or my poor French reading aloud skills.

I was asked for and presented my6 Carte Vitale....my entire eye exam was 35 Euros and I have been reimbursed for it--some by the French government, and some by my mutuelle.  They just put the money directly into my bank account, which is how it's normally done. 

There are some striking differences--offices are not swanky and in great big sterile office buildings.  The floors creak sometimes.  The doctors are more casual and they take time to talk and to listen.  Dr. LeRoux, the ophthalmologist, asked who my primary care physician was and when I told her I hadn't found one, she told me that I needed to do that as soon as possible.  It would somehow more securely register me in the system and would reduce the costs of medications and any emergency procedures that might arise.

Not something you'd normally take with you to your appointment in the States

So, I set off in search of a doctor who would agree to oversee my care.  That sounds easy-peasy, but in reality took several weeks.  Most of the general practices that I contacted were/are not accepting new patients.  I was lucky, though and found a wonderful English-speaking doctor who did agree to be my named physician.  

Now I am in the process of a battery of tests. I have had lab work done---no waiting and no cost to me, thanks to my mutuelle.  The results are e-mailed to both my physicians within 48 hours and will be mailed to me.  I have a prescription for a mammogram and Dr. Symons gave me a kit for a bowel cancer screening.  We send our poop samples through the mail here; that's something to think about.  My regular doctor visit is 25 Euros and again, I am reimbursed.  

I have learned a little about pharmacy and prescriptions....I am having a procedure done tomorrow on my eyes and I have to bring the syringe for injecting the dye as well as they dye.  I also have filled a prescription for the drops to dilate my eye and numb it as well.  I am expected to show up at the clinic ready to go.   We have to take a little more personal responsibility for procedures here than perhaps in the States.  My procedure tomorrow will cost 75 Euros, for which I will be reimbursed.  I can only guess at the price in the States.  

The pharmacist asks for your Carte Vitale and most medications are covered, either by it or by the mutuelle, with no out of pocket costs.  I also learned--the hard way--that pharmacies here do not necessarily stock the medicine on the prescription.  You have to plan time to order it...usually the medication arrives in 24 hours.  There have been a couple of other mishaps--last Tuesday was a nightmare--but all's well that ends well.  I have my procedure tomorrow, and soon, I hope, no cataracts and maybe even no need for glasses.  I have all my medications to take with me. While there is always more to learn,  I think I have the steepest part of my learning curve behind me.