Archive Article: 2002/07/19
WE ARE watching, with interest, the discussion about identity cards in the UK. When we came to France in 1983 we had to apply for a carte de sejour each, which enabled us to work here, and we have to update it every 10 years.
It is a little bigger than a credit card, it has personal details such as date of birth, nationality, sex, address and a photo, and it fits into a little pochette along with my driving licence, and blood group card all of which I carry on me all the time. I am asked to show it in the supermarket when I pay by cheque over a certain amount, for a very large sum they will ask for a second means of identification, like my licence. None of this bothers me at all.
Our social security benefits are taken care of by the Mutualité Sociale Agricole de lOrne (MSAO) and I am covered by Tims insurance as an exploitant agricole. We both have cards to this effect, which are just like credit cards. I have taken them into our regular pharmacy where the details have been put into the computer so now when either of us need a prescription I simply hand the prescription over and collect the medicine, payment is taken care of automatically between the MSAO and the pharmacy.
Last week I woke up with some horrible bites on my neck. As the day wore on they grew so that after work I called into the chemist on the way home to buy some antihistamine tablets. Not available without a prescription. Seeing my downcast face, and glaringly red neck the assistant suggested I popped next door to the doctors (not our doctor). So I rang the bell and walked into an empty waiting room. Ten minutes later a young doctor appeared with a patient, who he showed to the door, then bid me enter. After a swift examination he provided me with the required prescription for pills and cream to take back to the chemist. Asking for my card he used it to put my details into his computer, I paid the usual fee of k20 (about £15) which I can also claim back, and went to collect my treatment, the whole process took no more than 20 minutes.
We are obliged to carry these cards with us, but I think it makes life easier, and that, by the way, is the reason Frenchmen carry bags, not because theyre sweet! Bulging wallets spoil the look of a nicely cut pair of trousers; how well that idea would go down with your average English farmer I dont know.
Still in the European vein, we have just been up to Norway to collect Beth and her boyfriend Pierre Fleutot from Bergen, where they have been studying English for a year, and it was so easy rushing through Holland, Belgium, and Germany on a whistle stop visit (by car) without having to worry about changing the money each time. We bought Swedish krona, but in fact, didnt need them, with no time to shop, and Norwegian krone which we spent. Im proud to be English, but I find Im going Euro!