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Post by Megan on Oct 14, 2009 3:52:17 GMT -5
The streets in Notting Hill were lined with them for the Notting Hill festival this year which I thought was very unenglish like especially in the tonier suburbs !
We had never seen anything like them and giggled like schoolgirls ! They call them pissoirs over here which gave them a very French tone I thought !
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Post by phread on Oct 14, 2009 5:17:29 GMT -5
that is the french name for them. tres chic, megan
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Post by GitteK on Oct 14, 2009 5:43:47 GMT -5
Suggestions (instead of public cabins)
* Buy an express (smallest cup of coffee) at the bar/zink in any café, as the entrance ticket to the toilet. It is not fair to "bum" a free-pee in a private café, IMO.
* The automobile showrooms on Avenue des Champs Élysées have nice, clean toilets, e.g. at Toyota on the 1st floor
* Hospitals, e.g. the new section of Hôpital St. Louis
* The information centre under the pyramid at the Louvre (you can use the toilets without buying a ticket)
* Musée du Luxembourg (same as the Louvre, toilets are in the basement)
* Hôtel de Soubise (Archives Nationales, toilets are to your right in the hall)
* Institut Catholique in Rue d'Assas (toilets are to your right, at the end of the arcade)
* Petit Palais (free entrance, toilets are in the basement)
* Major railway stations where there is a pee-lady, e.g. Gare du Nord (in the basement). You have to pay for the usage, but at least they are clean - I will gladly pay a euro for that !
Do NOT use the gratis toilets at the stations, I once took ONE look at the toilet in La Défense (going to St.Germain-en-Laye) and that was extremely disgusting. Take my word for it, you don't want the details.
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 14, 2009 7:55:43 GMT -5
IMO, it's not a good idea to go to a cafe and buy a drink just so you can use the restroom. I don't know about anyone else, but if I drink even a small cup of coffee, I need another restroom within an hour.  |
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Post by cigalechanta on Oct 14, 2009 10:21:47 GMT -5
wow gitte, you are a warehouse of information!!
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Post by Truffaut on Oct 14, 2009 12:40:28 GMT -5
Gitte,
By that logic, one would have to buy a new car to use the bathroom at Toyota! I see no problem with visiting a cafe. You might get a slightly unfriendly reception, bur that's about it.
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Post by GitteK on Oct 14, 2009 12:55:25 GMT -5
I don't think you can actually buy a car in those showrooms, that's not their purpose. They want to show off their latest models, so that the tourists go home and buy a Toyota in their home country.
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Post by GitteK on Oct 14, 2009 13:00:52 GMT -5
And BTW Toyota can afford it - as can the museums, so I don't feel sorry for them.
I still don't think it's fair to a small, private café-owner that he should pay for the cleaning after my "freeloading-peeing". The least I can do is to buy a cup of coffee.
To me it's not a logical distinction of principle, but only a matter of "emotional conscience".
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 14, 2009 13:37:25 GMT -5
My goodness, Gitte !  You make it sound like the moment you exit the restroom, immediate cleaning up is required.  I doubt it ....... anyone who is so fussy about her duvet covers must surely be the neatest person when peeing.  |
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Post by geordy on Oct 14, 2009 17:01:14 GMT -5
I agree Shoesy... and I actuallu used the W/C at La Rotunde before meeting the group for lunch! After my walk before and after meeting the Giant..I needed a facility! Would have had a drink but didn't want to be late for the lunch..so just ducked into La Rotunde..so big between outside and inside that no one would know!...and then headed on down the street. And I don't think I left my stall any worse than how I entered!  |
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Post by GitteK on Oct 15, 2009 3:04:13 GMT -5
You guys just don't get the point, do you ? This is about free-loading...... that's not decent !  At least not with cafés or shops run by private, hardworking owners, IMO. If free-load you absolutely must, do it at McDo's....... the sooner they go bankrupt the better for the world ! |
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 15, 2009 3:19:40 GMT -5
Don't think of it as freeloading, which definitely sounds negative.  Think of it as helping out someone who needs it. You never know.....maybe one day you might end up doing a favor for the owner of that cafe, or his wife, kids, friend..... or his doggy, etc. Life is full of give and take. |
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Post by sunshine817 on Oct 15, 2009 3:30:59 GMT -5
would/do I make a habit of it? Well, no. But under the heading "any port in a storm", well, if it's urgent, it's urgent. We usually do have a drink (when you are three, someone is ALWAYS either thirsty or needs a pee....)
Cost? A few centimes for the flush and a paper towel, I suppose, but if a resto owner goes out of business because I ducked in for a pee, he has a lot more problems than whether or not I bought a drink if I used his loo!
Cleaning? Don't know about you, but I leave the loo in the same, and sometimes better, condition than when I went in. I don't have any communicable diseases, and I use the brush if necessary (doesn't everyone?)...and I haven't believed in cooties since I was 8. So no argument on cleaning.
So if I'm walking down the street, and nature calls loud and clear...well, I'll take any option I can find -- does anyone find walking down the street with wet knickers preferable?
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Post by GitteK on Oct 15, 2009 3:36:49 GMT -5
I think all we can conclude is that we see things differently. Well, it's a free and democratic world, so each of us should do what we feel is right.
No, I don't leave "traces" in the loo, thank you. But logically it would take more cleaning in the long run, if all random walkers-by started to use the café's toilets - and if they don't bring any business with them, it can only increase the owner's costs (or time spent) on cleaning.
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Post by phread on Oct 15, 2009 4:06:03 GMT -5
I figure that I give the cafes of Paris enough business that they can lend me their services so that I can do my business.
My friends who own cafes do not mind people using their facilities, as long as they ask, so I always ask nicely.
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Post by Shoesy on Oct 15, 2009 4:33:31 GMT -5
No, I don't leave "traces" in the loo, thank you. And you don't pee in your bed, either ! Seriously now, anyone who hasn't read Gitte's report where she clearly stated the above has missed the most humorous TR ever written. |
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Post by geordy on Oct 15, 2009 8:10:12 GMT -5
I've also had the experience of going into a cafe because I need a facility, ordering, then finding the loo out of order! Went back and got S/O to stand outside the Men's once! But when solo.... So I figure it balances out...coupled with the times I use the cafe but not the W/C! |
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Post by mossie on Oct 15, 2009 8:11:28 GMT -5
But it is the exact opposite of freeloading, how about freedumping.  |
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Post by Happygoin on Oct 15, 2009 8:17:09 GMT -5
Oh Mossie...that's just plain wrong! |
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Post by kerouac on Oct 16, 2009 16:03:35 GMT -5
Pissoir is the German name. The French call them urinoirs.
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You make it sound like the moment you exit the restroom, immediate cleaning up is required. 
I doubt it ....... anyone who is so fussy about her duvet covers must surely be the neatest person when peeing. 
At least not with cafés or shops run by private, hardworking owners, IMO. 
Think of it as helping out someone who needs it. You never know.....maybe one day you might end up doing a favor for the owner of that cafe, or his wife, kids, friend..... or his doggy, etc. Life is full of give and take. 
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha