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Musée du Service de Santé des Armées in Paris, France: Medication or Moroccan?
One of the
nice things about traveling is the great chance to meet new people along the
way. A perfect example for me, at least, was during the random
visit to a
local museum in Paris, one rainy afternoon. While
the rain started to pour, leaving us with no choice but to find shelter, we
decided to swing by the nearest museum around the neighborhood, which happened
to be the Museum of the Armed Forces Health Service.
It’s not as famous as the likes of Louvre, but it is more than packed
with replicas of history in it!
When we
were strolling around the labyrinth-like hallways, I could not help but notice
this seemingly disheveled uncle who kept on smiling at us. No creepers here, he
was just being friendly. Then when we approached this area where he was
stationed, he decided to strike a conversation in French. Of course on a scale of
one to i-don’t-understand, I was neither smart enough to guess, nor cool enough
to pretend I understand. It’s surprising though, as Asians as we looked, that
the old man didn’t hesitate to speak with us in French. He was very polite and
pleasant.
Only to
find out, he wasn’t really French-born. He was a Moroccan. His family was a
refugee who immigrated to France. Fast
forward to a few decades, as a way to give back, he dedicated his life in the
service of the Army Health Service museum. What a life story! Every
detail unfolded intensely as we walked around the museum, it was as if we were
in a play, watching everything transpire, with characters relating to every
artifact we saw inside the museum. And it was told beautifully in English with
French-Moroccan accent. A chance meet up through a random visit in this museum!
And so the
story goes - we ended near a church like area of the museum, where we heard a
pianist and a singer performing their practice session. To say that it was
glorious is an understatement, because truly, it was more than
enough to bring goosebumps to your toes. Even the Moroccan caretaker was
enamored by the performance. We clapped despite the silence that echoed through
the hallways. It was a great experience worth remembering, for sure!
The museum
in itself is not for the faint hearted. It’s an upgraded version of the ones
you’ll probably see in Cambodia – a
positive version compared to the “genocide museum” type of visuals. It’s more of an
educational approach to it, with so much archives on the evolution of military
medicine and the conditions of care for soldiers in combat back in the day. Of
course, photographs abound, and so here they are – enjoy!~
Museum of
the Armed Forces Health Service at Val-de-Grâce
1 place Alphonse Laveran 75005 Paris France
1 place Alphonse Laveran 75005 Paris France
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