Observations on Paris - Pt. 3

Not being a world traveler, this may just be something unique to me - but common to everyone else. Here in California, all toilet seats in public bathrooms are white. There are many different shapes and sizes, but the actual plastic seat is white, as are most in private homes. For some reason, and this always intrigued me, Montreal public toilet seats are predominately black. And so they are in Paris.

Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. I am sure someone does, and I am sure there is a very good reason. I just don’t know it. Not that there is anything wrong with black, it is just one of those regional distinctions without a difference.

And this, too, may just be a California thing, but out here, you cannot go into a public restroom and not find paper seat covers, Provided By Management For Your Protection!  Not in Paris. In fact, some restaurants have but one bathroom to share – and it probably is in the basement. They may be tiny rooms, but you are just happy to have them.

Oddly enough, we did find one public restroom, I think in the Rodin Museum, that had anti-bacterial wipes for use to clean the area before use. That was a very nice touch. Very civilized, and a big step up from paper.

We were led to believe there were not many public restrooms in Paris, but we never seemed to have trouble finding one. A few older ones still had the mechanism on the door for coins, but I suspect when they switched from French Franc’s to Euro’s it was too expensive to make the conversion.



Public Restroom Entrance, Eiffel Tower

Should you happen to take the day trip to Versailles, use the restrooms at the start of your tour. They are in the process of expanding the facilities, but who knows how long that will take. Otherwise, best to use those available at the two restaurant locations in the garden area at Versailles.