Looking for a CVS in Paris? Some good news, and some bad news.
So Is There a CVS in Paris?
There is no CVS in Paris. Worse: If you’re looking for an American-style “pharmacy”/drugstore in Paris — an equivalent of CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc — there’s no easy substitution. Ditto for fans of the UK’s Boots and Superdrug.
Let’s start by figuring out what we need to replace. What can you get at CVS? Just about anything: Twizzlers, SD cards, a beach chair, protein bars, Diet Coke, Stouffer’s macaroni and cheese, Whitman’s samplers. Also: Synthroid. If you only need Synthroid (or its euro replacement), you will need to go to an actual pharmacy. For everything else, we have some options.
What’s the Closest Equivalent to a CVS in Paris?
Percentage-wise, the sort of shop that would get you closest would be a grocery store with department store aspirations, like Monoprix, or a large (often suburban) Carrefour. Most large Monoprixs will have candy, small electronic goods, minor furnishings, Valentine’s Day gifts, and more. As for that beach chair: Monoprixs often have small home accessory ranges, and the standalone Monoprix Maison has an excellent selection of larger pieces, as well as inventive collabs with French designers. Monop’s (mini-Monoprixs) will have the food products, but not the random other stuff. (Ironically, Monoprix is also my recommendation for a Target substitute. Monoprix is doing the work of many, many hands.)
What it will not have? It will not have the Synthroid, or indeed any medicine. Monoprixs (and other grocery stores) do not have pharmacies. They may sit next to or in some cases share a physical space with a separate business that is a pharmacy, but that is all.
How Does a French Pharmacy Compare?
French pharmacies sell…pharmaceutical products! Many also offer wide ranges from leading beauty and skincare companies, under the guise of parapharmacie status: Caudalie, Avène, Phyto, etc etc. If you want to see these in action, try La Grande Pharmacie du Forum des Halles if you’re on the Right Bank, or Citypharma on the Left. (Of these two, La Grande Pharmacie is vastly preferred, with lower influencer attention, better store layout, faster lines, and nicer staff.) Both of these are often overrun with tourists and TikTok-makers. Unless you’re going for the experience, your average French pharmacy will likely offer a better experience in terms of crowd control and calm.
This leave us the traditional French pharmacy. Whatever you need, you’ll have to speak with the pharmacist about it — nearly all products (even those available without a prescription) are (in the literal sense) behind the counter, so you’ll need to ask for them. If you’re trying to replace or refill a US prescription, you may get lucky if you have a copy of it (on your phone or on paper), or an empty bottle. Visit Paris has a well-tended list of pharmacies that are open 24 hours and/or have explicitly English-speaking staff, though I’ve only been to a handful that couldn’t manage a basic question in English.
French pharmacists take their job as seriously as American pharmacists (of course) but culturally have a more prominent role in the dispensing not just of a bottle of pills but in the offering of counsel — the role is more akin to a physician’s assistant, who can recommend a cure for most ailments. If you’re ill in a non-emergency way, you would do well to take your concern to a pharmacist first.
