kerouac

There is a plethora of temporary toilets and urinals all along the bassin de la Villette and the canal Saint Martin. Loacker will be shocked that I did not photograph them since I only take pictures of ugly things.

I am scrathing my head over the comment about public bathrooms being a "horror story" when we are provided with a grand total of one example of something nasty. I will take the opportunity to apologize for the very last trip that my mother (Alzheimer's) was able to take to California. While my brother was at work, I drove with her to Pismo Beach, and she suddenly had an extreme toilet emergency. We ran into the public toilet but unfortunately she completely redecorated the place as her bowels exploded. I tried to clean it up a little, but there was no way that anybody could use that toilet until the professional staff took care of the situation. Therefore, taking a cue from Loacker, I must say that public bath(?)rooms in California are a horror story. Absolutely nobody should go to California because the public toilets might be disgusting.

analogue

I think locker was telling us that the French purposely leave poo on the toilet seat because that's the way they like it.

I kind of don't believe that it was anybody's intention.

Maybe locker should visit other countries and not hang out on the France forum.

StCirq

Loaker should simply stop pretending that he knows anything about France. And if all of his experiences have been as horrific as he pretends, and all of the experiences he hasn't had yet are as horrible as he imagines, I think Switzerland would be a good alternative for him. Nothing ever goes wrong there, and it's neat as a pin.

pariswat

I am waiting to read of ONE thing Loacker found nice.
Not great. Just nice.

But enough time wasted - some people see only the dark sifde of people and the negative side of life. And if they don't see it, they imagine it and convince themselves.

Loacker : since you were Kodak, I propose for your next come back to choose 'DarthVador' as avatar.
Bon, time for a good glass of wine. Too bad I don't keep rosé wine in Belgium, but I have a Sancerre rouge in the fridge, it should be at the right temperature.

After all the thread is : how do you cope in a heatwave : I drink cool wine. Inbetween showers.

lauren_s_kahn

Anywhere in France is always a risk as regards the heat. Any big city makes the heat more intense than in the countryside where there is more wind and just room to move.

One advantage in most of Europe is that it cools off at night unlike in the Eastern US where it also has been hot.

I did two home exchanges in Europe this summer. Reykjavik was definitely not hot. The second exchange in Italy (near Lake Como) was but it cooled off at night. I used the shutters in the house to make the house liveable. I had an old stone house that had been modernized. In Paris I would have fried.

I also went to Verona and Corsica. The links to my blogs are on other threads. For those of you in Paris, I hope it cools off before you leave. I am in Italy through September 10th.

lauren_s_kahn

I meant anywhere in France IN AUGUST before someone corrects me. Ha!

justineparis

I have used Sansiettes( I am assuming this is what Loacker is referring to when he says a "portable toilet" .. they are clean.. wet.. but clean so the one Loacker found was obviously broken , if it was functioning the feces would have been at very least not neatly sitting on seat but running down it from force of cleaning cycle. Broken washroom happen anywhere and are usually a horror.

If by chance he entered an actual portable toilet like the ones we call porta potties.. used a music concerts and construction sites.. they are all generally grotty here.. they are outhouses.. and I guess Loacker lives in a place where those are sparkling clean and delightful.. lucky person.

Secondly.. the admission fee for St Chapelle is 10 euros.. the fee for our local museum is 24 dollars( about 17 euros).. so I don't think one could class the price for St Chapelle as exorbitant. It is a world class historical sight.

Loacker

Hi justineparis,

No, the Sanisettes are clean. I've used one while in Paris. This was a porta potty next to a construction site near Forum Les Halles. Luckily, I found a paid toilet inside Les Halles mall.

Anyway, Paris is still my favorite city although that poo will haunt me forever.

WeisserTee

"I think Switzerland would be a good alternative for him."

Gee, thanks a lot. Anyway, he doesn't know much about Switzerland either, and even if he did, his MO is disparaging places others like and spreading inaccurate information.

StCirq

You used a porta potty next to a construction site near Forum des Halles and you have a complaint? Maybe you should travel with an entourage de toilettes like they did in the 19th century and before.

Please seek therapy for the poo that will haunt you forever.

WT, I was just suggesting the dude needs more sceptic surroundings, you know, no particular swipe on Switzerland, (but can we agree it is an exceptioanlly clean country?) And I agree his knowledge of pretty much anywhere in Europe is paltry, though it doesn't prevent him from blathering on about places he knows little about.

Whathello

Now, this IS going off the beaten path : using the toilets of the workers on a construction site, wow, I bet not 0,1% of the locals have done that !

Tip : locals use the toilets in a café - they enter, order a coffee or a beer and use the toilets. But this is not adventurous.

Anyway, excellent post ! I should start a thread with 'les perles de Whathello' and put this one high up.

fuzzbucket

There is no cure for Loacker's coprophobia, and apparently no cure for the attending cranial-rectal inversion, either.

Whathello

Cranial-rectal inversion....

That is one of the reasons I am on Fodors, to get some English useful sentences and idioms !
But put in such a context, it borders on art, Fuzz.

kerouac

Just so that people will know: the heat wave has now ended in Paris.

Michael

<i>locals use the toilets in a café - they enter, order a coffee or a beer and use the toilets. But this is not adventurous.
</i>

Except that some are still of the "Turkish" variety, which is off-putting for many people.

northie

Love seeing people using their city especially like these photos show. - picnics, games, swimming, fun etc . Well done Kerouac

Loacker

Yeah, what's up with that Michael? Even in Turkey they no longer use them.

Do they keep them them for nostalgic reasons?

annw

Thanks for the photos, Kerouac; wonderful!

justineparis

Micahel i havent seen a turkish toilet in Paris for decades, i know there may be a random one somewhere, but if one was going to look for one , they would have to look very very hard indeed.

This thread is getting ridiculus.

Michael

We were having coffee in a café in the 7th arrondissement when 3 or 4 American young women came in. The owner made it clear that they had to buy something to use the toilet. They did and then recoiled in horror when they discovered that it was a "Turkish" toilet--wasted their money. That was in the last ten years.

There is only one thing wrong with those toilets: as one gets older squatting is becoming more difficult. But they are easier to keep clean.