The elusive Hilton bathrooms

February 06th 2007

I take the train to work, it’s 30-35 minutes round trip, with only 12 of that on the train. That’s one the way I stay fit. At the gare (”train station”), I have several different ways to walk to the office. One of my favorites is the most direct route (and the warmest)which takes me through the Hilton hotel lobby and out the other side into a small shopping area. So the other day, I see a guy coming in from the shopping center side. He didn’t look like a Hilton client, but that’s not unusual because neither did I. So he starts heading down the stairs at the Hilton and a security guard intercepts him. All this is happening as I’m walking by so I don’t hear everything but I think I hear les toilettes (”the bathrooms”). So I continue, now outside the Hilton and inside the shopping area with stores and restaurants. It’s 9:30 so everything is just opening up. And the guy I saw who previously walked past me into the Hilton now passes me again but going away from the Hilton. Very fast. And then I realized it. Les toilettes!. He’s now running. And was praying to myself that he makes it.

That man represents all of us here in France. Customer service and hospitality aren’t as popular here as in the US, and unfortunately bathrooms aren’t either. And that includes letting people use the bathrooms. They’re few and far between, and businesses typically reserve them for their guests. And if there are public bathrooms, there’s usually a Dame Pipi (”Pee-pee Lady”) who either charges or collections tips. I’ve heard stories of people buying a beer in a pub just to be able to go to the bathroom, but that only prolongs the situation. Of course there are the public bathrooms, the ones that are coin-operated. I had a bad experience in one of those the first week I arrived in Paris and haven’t been in one since. But that will be the subject of another blog.

So what do most of the French do? They hold it. And they’re quite good at it!

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