Using the toilet

Self-cleaning automatic toilet stall in Colmar

Sometimes finding a toilet is no easy matter in Europe. And they don't say "bathroom" here, the euphemism we have adopted in North America. In France, the bathroom (salle de bain) is actually the room with the bathtub in it. If you're in a private home, the bathroom may or may not also house the toilet. In our apartment, we're lucky enough to have both a salle de bain and a salle d'eau (water room, when translated to English). I guess this is the French euphemism for "room with the toilet". In many public areas in Europe, you have to spot the sign for WC (stands for Water Closet), the almost international symbol for "toilet" that must have moved east from Great Britain.



The cost to use a public toilet varies from free, which is unusual, to the most expensive one we used at the Berlin Zoo bahnhof (train station) at 1.10 € (about $1.65). In some places men can choose to use the pissoir for a cheaper price. (I call discrimination!) We have found free public toilets at the Coliseum in Rome, in some of the parks and tourist areas in Strasbourg, and in Barr, home of the famous (to us, anyway) wine festival. In mid-range on the toilet expense scale are the "on your honour" toilets and the turnstile-type toilet areas, which generally cost between 0.50 and 0.80 € ($0.75 - $1.20). The coin-operated turnstiles don't give back change, so if you have to go badly enough and the attendant isn't there, you could lose some money. Sometimes this service is contracted out, and we have noticed a company called McClean (the expensive one in Berlin) at other places. (If you click on the link, watch the website load the first time - it's cute!)

If you want to be really rude, you can use an "on your honour" public toilet for free as well. Basically, these are public toilets that have on-site caretakers, and these toilet rooms are always sparkling clean. When you walk in, there is often an anteroom or foyer where the caretaker hangs out, and you will see a saucer with a few coins in it sitting conspicuously on a counter. The caretaker, most likely a woman, will greet you as you go in, and watch (or listen) carefully to see (or hear) that you drop a coin, usually in the range of 0.20 to 0.50 €, in the saucer on your way out. When she hears the familiar clink in the saucer, you are merrily wished on your way. Being the polite person that I am, I would never want to test the waters by leaving without paying, but I imagine that instead of a friendly good-bye, you might be treated to an evil glare.



We were treated to an example of this when we stopped at a Belgian WC in a service station on our last trip to Europe. Mark and Cameron went into the men's room together, and Mark dropped a coin into the dish on his way in, but the very unfriendly-looking woman who managed the WC didn't see him do it. On his way out, when he "forgot" to leave a coin, she followed, berating him all the way. If she had been speaking French, he might have tried to talk with her, but since she was speaking Flemish (we think), he didn't stand a chance. We just played dumb tourists and walked out, feeling badly that she thought we were trying to cheat her. We learned a lesson from this, though: always pay on your way out.

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