Laundry
 

I hate over-packing for a trip. Are laundrys/dry cleaners easily available in Paris? How expensive are they? I'd never consider paying the rediculous prices of U.S. hotel laundry services. In Dublin hotel laundry was very cheap. In Japan I ended up washing my clothes in the sink. <BR>Advice for Paris? <BR>Thanks.

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Hey, there! I don't have the answer for ya' but wanted to ask the same question...anyone??? I hate doing laundry in the hotel sink!

A few steps from the Ecole Militaire metro stop is a laundromat and dry cleaners at the corner of Ave de Tourville and rue Chevert. Open 24/7. <BR>This is in the 7th arr. Scout around and I feel sure you will find others, generally located on side streets where rents are lower.

Hi Al <BR> <BR>We used this laundromat when we stayed at the Muguet; there's another one just off rue Cler. <BR> <BR>Margo Classe's series, "Hello (Spain/France/Italy)! An Insiders Guide to Spanish/French/Italian) Hotels $50 to $90 a Night for Two" reports the addresses of laundromats for many cities. I have the Italian edition open here on my desk and just checked. She lists 11 different laundromats in Florence. Look toward the end of each chapter. <BR> <BR>We consider doing our own laundry in Europe a cultural experience. We've met both local residents and fellow travelers in them. <BR> <BR>Bon Voyage

If you do not speak French, make sure you bring a dictionary. Not all laundromat directions are clear, not all laundromats operate the same. I've done my laundry in several different kinds of laundromats throughout France, and some situations have been like comedies, trying to figure out how to get the washers & dryers working!

French laundromats are plumbed like French showers--lots of gadgetry but no two alike. The laundromats, unlike the showers, usually have someone there to help you!

We've had little difficulty and some humorous experiences getting the job accomplished in foreign laundromats. There's usually someone in there who's willing to help out, and we've resorted to charades at times. Like I mentioned above, a cultural opportunity! <BR> <BR>

Laundry is a great leveler; one CAN make an adventure out of it, except in some places (e.g. Spain in our experience, where there appear to be approximately no laundrettes.) But unless you really like hovering for a couple of hours around steamy (and frankly, rather scarce) French or Parisian laundrettes, in rooms well equipped with torn ancient magazines (some things are universal) I suggest you ask the hotel desk where an affordable laundry/cleaners is located nearby, drop your clothes off and collect them later, having spent the intervening time doing something more enjoyable than waiting for the machines to do their thing. The service laundries will cost more than the do-it-yourself places, but lots less than the extortionate prices hotels charge. It's a cost of travel we now simply build in to the budget. Wife and I just hate sink laundry, but are no strangers to wet socks or worse (or, truth be told, to cheap street market socks or undergarments as interim anti-laundry solutions).