Pharmacy near the Trocadéro: finding an on-duty pharmacy in the 16th

The official service is called MonPharmacien IDF. It's run by the Île-de-France regional health agency with the regional pharmacists' union. It exists as a website (monpharmacien-idf.fr) and as an app. You can search by location, by town, by date or by time, and the service gives you directions.

There are two different cases. The on-duty service covers Sundays and public holidays: the pharmacy is usually open as normal, and you can go in without a prescription for an everyday need. The emergency service covers the night, from 8 pm to 8 am: the pharmacist usually asks for a prescription dated that day, because the service is kept for treatments that cannot wait.

Good news for Paris: night-duty pharmacies here are open and you can go straight in. Stopping at a police station first only applies in the other départements of the Île-de-France region, such as the Hauts-de-Seine or the Val-de-Marne. If you are staying in the inner suburbs, the rule changes as soon as you leave Paris.

Another simple tip: pharmacy windows usually display the on-duty pharmacy for the area.

An on-duty pharmacy adds an "on-duty fee" per prescription: about €5 on a Sunday or public holiday, and up to €8 at night, according to the regional health agency.

With a prescription, this fee is covered by French national health insurance and top-up insurance. Without a prescription, you pay it yourself, and the pharmacist is free to charge it or not.

Before you go, take: that day's prescription if you have one, photo ID, especially at night, and your health insurance card. If you are insured in France, that means your carte Vitale and your top-up insurance certificate. If you are visiting, see the section for foreign visitors below.

15 (SAMU): the medical emergency number. It's not only for serious emergencies: it's also the service for access to care. A doctor listens and directs you to a consultation, a home visit or the hospital. Call it too if you need a doctor in the evening or at the weekend.

18 or 112: the fire brigade. 112 is the European emergency number: according to the European Commission, it's free from landlines and mobile phones everywhere in the EU, and it works worldwide on GSM mobile networks. 17: the police. 3114: the national suicide prevention line, free, available day and night. Paris poison control centre: 01 40 05 48 48.

SOS Médecins: 01 47 07 77 77, for a home visit or a consultation, day and night. Urgences médicales de Paris: 01 53 94 94 94. SOS dentaire: 01 43 37 51 00.

In the 16th, the Sarah Santé Auteuil medical centre, 21 rue Chanez, sees patients without an appointment for minor injuries (cuts, sprains, fractures). It also handles eye emergencies, every evening from 6 pm to 9 pm and on Sundays from 9 am to 3 pm.

Coming from a European Union country? A prescription written by a doctor in one EU country is valid in the others. The medicine may have a different name, though, or may not be sold in France. Ask your doctor to write the name of the active ingredient rather than the brand, and keep a paper copy if your prescription is electronic.

With your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you pay the same price as someone insured in France. Without it, or with a prescription from another EU country, you will probably pay the full price: ask for a receipt so you can claim it back at home. From the UK? According to the UK government, you need a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or a valid EHIC to get medically necessary state healthcare in France, on the same basis as French citizens. It does not replace travel insurance.

Medicines without a prescription: in France, medicines are only sold in pharmacies, not in supermarkets. Paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin are still available without a prescription, but they have been kept behind the counter since 15 January 2020: you have to ask the pharmacist. It's a chance to describe your symptoms, and they will advise you.

If you don't speak French, show the box of your usual medicine, or the name of the active ingredient written on your phone.

Several pharmacies are a few minutes' walk from the square. The list above comes from OpenStreetMap: the opening hours shown are the usual ones, not the on-duty ones. On a Sunday, always check MonPharmacien before you set off.

If you need step-free access, see our Trocadéro accessibility page. To get here or leave by public transport, our getting to Trocadéro page covers the metro, the RER and buses, and the practical info section has everything else.