You can find drug stores all over the city. They are clearly marked with a neon green cross. A French pharmacist (pharmacien) is a competent and highly qualified professional. If you have a toothache or headache, you can ask him for help without waiting for a doctor. The majority of drug stores are closed on Sundays, but the address of the nearest one on duty is always specified in local newspapers and on the door of the local pharmacy. Toiletries and basic medications such as aspirin can always be found in supermarkets, where the prices are generally much lower than in drug stores.

Pharmacie sign

In Paris the name and the surname of the addressee are written right at the top of the envelope. Next are the number of the house and the name of the street, zip code, city and country (if the letter is going abroad). The first figures of the zip code specify the department of France where the addressee lives. For Paris, the first two figures are always 75. The two last figures show the district number, and the figure in the middle is always zero or one, for example: 75018 is the 18th district of Paris, 75116 – 16th district etc. As a result the Parisian address looks like this:

Jean-Paul Belmondo
10, Avenue George Vd
75008 Paris
France

Range of French postage stamps