SAMU

I can now say that I have lived unique experiences in France. And by unique I don’t mean nice, I mean experiences that people should not go through. Last Saturday I was giving my mom a tour of Paris, it was our second day and we had already seen plenty: Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Le Louvre, and Pere Lachaise. Now it was time to go up the Eiffel Tower. Before going up however, I was hungry and decided to get some fries with sausages because the waiting time inside was of about 45 minutes. So I ate my food and went up. My mom was too scared to go all the way up to the third floor so she stayed on the second floor and I went up by myself. When I rejoined her on the second floor I had some hot wine and then we went down.

That is when it happened: extreme nausea and fatigue took over me right next to the south side of the tower. I didn’t know what to do, because I was the one in charge being that it was her first time in Paris and she does not speak French. So we kept walking and I came across the Musee de Quai Branley so we went in.

I immediately rushed to the bathroom and sat there for about 15 minutes before it started: intense vomit. It was so disgusting. I sat there for about 30 minutes before going out, and then I rushed to the sink to continue. Eventually the cleaning lady called the ‘pompiers’ (firemen), which are always at the museum, and they came to check up on me. I declined my offer to go to the hospital – this time. So they left and I just sat waiting and praying to get enough strength on my legs to go back to the hotel. But instead: more vomit. So after vomiting twice more the pompiers came again and this time they did not give me a choice: they called the SAMU (sort of like 911 but slower). I was then taken to the Pompidou Hospital, supposedly the best in Paris.

So about 5 hours later I had been tested and given enough medication to be sent back to the hotel at 2 am. I continued to vomit through the night and spend our last day in Paris in bed with a fever. I will never eat Paris street food again. On the bright side, I got to ride in a French ambulance with the cute French SAMU guys.