Doc, Joss and the Metro

This week I got to experience the ease and simplicity of the French medical system. I’ve had a chest cold that I just haven’t been able to shake so Monday morning at 9am I called a British (read “English-speaking”) doctor in the Marais to see if I could come get checked out. He said how about 10:30am. I rode a Velib bike over to his office and he did an exam, gave me some anti-biotics and I was on my way. Stopped at the pharmacy next door and got the drugs and went home.

The office visit cost me 40 euros, of which 85% is fully reimbursable by my private health insurance, which costs 300 euros PER YEAR (not per month)! And by the way, the prescribed drugs are also reimbursable at 85%. But of course the best part was calling at 9am and getting an appointment at 10:30am that same day; that’s not always the case but it has been close to that each of the handful of times I’ve used the healthcare system here. It really makes me sad and embarrassed at the healthcare system in the U.S. – it’s disgraceful.


Photographically it was a slow week, but I did get to shoot Joss Stone performing at the Grand Rex Theatre. She put on a pretty good show I must say but maybe only because I didn’t have high expectations.


I’m posting a video I’d like to share with you. It’s nothing so special but I’m posting it because it’s typical of what you experience on the metro here in your day-to-day life moving around the city. Click HERE to see the video and be patient, the video might take a few minutes to load. {note: there is sound with the video}

I recently did some photo work for an international accounting firm here and they’ve posted a slideshow of my work on their website. You can see some of my Paris images (albeit a bit too small) by clicking HERE. {note: there is sound with the video}

And finally, a couple images of the week (of which I only took one):

Art or Vandalism? (view from my window)

God Bless America