IT was a dark winter morning. I was on the road before eight o'clock to drive through the French countryside some three miles to the neighbouring community, called somewhat imposingly, Le Grand Bourg. Having driven the equivalent of Sarratt to Flaunden, I could see in the gloom, schoolchildren waiting for the bus as I spotted my target, 10, Place de Marché.

There was a small waiting room behind the door but almost immediately I was called in by a lady wearing a winter coat, pullover and trousers.

She is the local nurse. I handed her the paper from the doctor and, after scanning it, she promptly told me to sit. Quickly rolling up my sleeve, she dabbed it with cotton wool, deftly and painlessly found a vein and then took five phials of my blood.

She was not wearing a mask or a white coat but the nursing station was immaculate and spotless.

The nurse then administered a flu jab, took my address and the reclaimable equivalent of three pounds sterling and thanked me.

We live in rural France and we are used to rural ways. The doctor in Benevent had thought it prudent to order a blood test and suggested I combined my visit to the nurse with my chit for a free flu jab.

The nurse operates from 8am until 8,30 every morning. An appointment is not necessary: you just turn up at the door.

One of the drawbacks to living in France is that is costs us a total of £720 a year for health insurance: £30 per month each. Naturally, as immigrants, we did not expect to come to France and immediately plug into all their welfare facilities but, it transpires, having paid our health insurance in Britain, we are entitled to free access to the French health scheme.

It is 70 per cent free for everyone in France but 30 per cent of the costs are not covered, unless your income is below a certain figure, in which case it is all free.

The remainder either pay the extra 30 per cent as they go or take top-up insurance, which is available on a sliding scale. Understandably, the older you are, the more expensive the insurance.

However, it is some consolation to know that a private insurance deal for a similarly aged couple in England, costs £2,400 per annum, so £720 is not bad.

Effectively, what we save on council tax, compared to England, more than covers the additional cost of health insurance.

The other plus-side is the quality of the French health system which is generally acknowledged to be the best in Europe. I enjoyed the perk of access to private insurance in England, but my experiences so far in France suggest it is superior over here and available to everyone.

The visit to the nurse might seem a little quaint with the smack of a cottage industry to it, yet, the next morning when I opened my post, I had a complete copy of my blood test results - another arriving at the doctor the same day.

"But how can you wait for days for test results or to have an x-ray in England," a French neighbour asked? "You have something wrong with you and it is necessary to find out what it is immediately. You need the reassurance."

It is a novel concept.

My doctor here sent me for tests when I registered because I suffer from emphysema. The treatment for this condition is 100 per cent free in France. Faced with a visit to hospital and making an appointment I was looking to book the test some time after I had returned from a two-week trip to England.

My thinking was in English mode.

"Will Tuesday do?" the doctor asked me that Friday morning. "Be there at 9.30am."

I reported to the hospital reception and discovered a 9.30 appointment means just that. Some personal details were taken before I was shown upstairs and sat in a chair, where a blood sample was taken to determine oxygen levels. I was promptly put through a series of peak flow, breathing tests, the results were printed out and, together with the result of the blood test, I was sent along the passageway to the specialist.

"Have you had an x-ray," he inquired and on discovering I had not, he escorted me to the x-ray room, gave the operator instructions and five minutes later I returned to his office with the x-rays in my hand.

I left the hospital, with all the results, at 10.15, with instructions to make an appointment in two years' time.

It seems the increased physical work up The Folly, the less polluted air and the lack of stress, have contributed to my results having improved over the last two years. And certainly they are right about the reduced stress, for visiting the doctor or a hospital over here is a breeze.

l Oliver Phillips is a former assistant editor of the Watford Observer who has retired to rural France.