I'm not a germophobe, really I am not. However, I suddenly became aware that a lot of Parisians seem to have a cough this time of year. And several expats here confirmed that.

I RARELY get sick. However, the day that I want to the Galeries Lafayette AND the day I went to the Musee D'orsay, I got cold-like symptoms the very next day - and they lasted almost a week.

What's with that? Getting REALLY careful about handwashing is super important. In fact, now I just keep that antibacterial stuff in my purse and do a quick and discrete handwash before even touching food, drinks, or even my face. That's a small price to pay to keep from losing a couple of vacation days to a stuffy headcold.

And, by the way, if you do get sick, head straightaway to a pharmacy - the big green plus sign - and ask for their homeopathic cure. I got something called Coryzalia - you take it every hour - but it REALLY seemed to help and it's all natural. Apparently the secret is to start it at the onset of the first symptoms.

I absolutely LOVE the pharmacies here. They almost always speak english and they are VERY good at providing inexpensive remedies AND kleenex .

Hope this helps.
MC

Funny, I went to Paris last month and also noticed so many people were coughing!! Luckily, we did not catch anything. Nothing worse than getting sick on vacation...

Coughing or no coughing, I'd still get on a plane and return to Paris tomorrow if I could.

I have a cough 365 days a year, but I am not ill. (I wish my colleagues would understand that.) I cough when I eat bread or rice, or any other grain product.

I think any time you are in a foreign country you have a good chance of catching a cold. A few years ago we traveled to Paris and then on to several cities and small villages in Italy. I caught a very bad cold. By the time we made it to Pisa I couldn't go out. My husband had to go to the only pharmacy in town and use hand gestures to get me some medication. Funny, but it worked.

Anybody who takes a big city subway or bus is going to be exposed to every germ in the book, even if they wear gloves.

I love Paris but I wish their food handling is a little.bit more sanitary. I went to Gerard Mulot today and ordered a tartin and cream brûlée, the girl used her ungloved hands to get the pastries, the cashier was also handling food and cash at the same time. Same at the crepe stand, cutting bananas, handling cash... I just couldn't get over it and ended up throwing away the food.

Paris is still beautiful rain or shine.

Airborne
Emergen-C

Happy Travels!

Have gotten the following advice from some of my, ahem, germ-conscious relatives:

-wash your hands with some frequency, especially before eating. And when using the bathroom, use a paper towel to shut off the water faucet and open the door to the bathroom when leaving.

-do not touch your face with your hands, especially around the nose and eyes. Some people do this without realizing it (itching noses, rubbing eyes, and such).

-avoid getting run down, which means eat reasonably, drink plenty of water, and get a decent night's sleep.

I've found all this helpful.

Much easier to build up immunity to everything. I have drunk tap water in Egypt and Cambodia. Never a problem!

I was in Paris and Amsterdam last month and, aside from a sinus infection in Amsterdam (no fault of the locals , I got a chest cold about a week after returning. However, since Whooping Cough (my grandson has it) and other nasty things are going around locally, I can't think the Parisians are spreading more germs than those right here in Ohio.

Agree with Guenmai on Emergen-C -- good product for just about everything!

On the coughing -- many years ago when we were still smoking, we found a very strange connection between winter and coughing. And once inside where it was warm, the coughing would get worse. We became convinced it had something to do with room radiator heaters found in many older hotels and buildings. Considering this happened to us in winter long after we quit smoking, there may be some connection to our theory. Or the fact that going from sunny southern California to a colder climate may impact on this coughing mystery as well.

If you developed cold symptoms a day after visiting the Musee D'Orsay you did not get it there. Colds have an incubation period just like other viruses - 3-5 days in the case of most colds.

The reason you are more susceptible when travelling is because it is a slightly different cold virus in Paris than in London than in New York, and so you are not immune to it.

You could very well have caught something on the plane on your way over.

kerouac.. are you sure you don't have an allergy?

Here we've used something called "Cold Calm" (available at Whole Foods or Pharmalogica) with great success. You take it when you notice symptoms beginning, and then the cold either goes away or is very mild with shortened duration. Would it be allowed through customs?

Why would they not allow homeopathic "medicines" through customs? Homeopathic remedies have nothing in them, literally. What a waste of money. What a stupid scam they are.

elnap, Cold Calm and the Coryzalia that mariacallas mentioned are by the same French company, Boiron. Might even be the same product...

In my experience, the onset of the damp cold that Paris gets at this time of year is reason enough for the additional coughing. Surfergirl has a point that this is exacerbated for smokers (and asthmatics like me). ...The cold air constricts lungs, which can make you short of breath/cough; a dramatic difference in air temp/humidity by walking into a warm interior will bring it on again...

Um - cold symptoms take about 72 hours to develop after exposure. and you are more likely to pick up germs on a plane than in more open public places. Althouhg handwashing frequently is a good practice anywhere - not just Paris - and you should always carry a small Purell.

Homeopathic medicines are generally considered scams. Until such time as a doctor or a pharmacuetical company finds out. Then they create a separate medicine and charge even more for it. By their very nature, homeopathic medicines aren't tested in the complicated methods required to get FDA approval.

I've never been gullible about those homeopathic remedies, but this one has worked for me a few times now. Just putting it out there...