Using Toilets in France

[ThomasHJ]

You people have too much time ;-)

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

You people have too much time ;-)

About 20 mins per day

 

[RockinNRollin]

The other thing to note is if you have a small person with you who has just about managed to tackle a UK toilet (with a toilet seat), to keep hold of them the first time the try a "UK style" toilet in France (which invariably doesn't have the extra pull down seat) - it's a bigger aperture and they may get pulled in.

On topic; I noticed throughout France that the vast majority of "seatless" toilets were clearly designed with a seat in mind as they had two bolt boles where the hinges would be attached normally. Then at once Aire, we came across a toilet with a more substantial rim and no bolt-holes and this was actually comfortable to sit on vs the usual narrow perch (I'm talking a short broadsheet column article level of comfort, not Lord of the Rings or War and Peace).

 

[Goldi]

I have found this on my computer and am posting it as it may be helpful to others. I wrote it in 2016 but it is still applicable today

Information on Using a French Toilet

The French are very generous in that they often provide a choice of a British sit down type or a French style squat loo.

This Note is guidance on using the squat type.

1) Do not enter the cubicle without shoes. It may look like shower but it is not.

2) You will see a porcelain basin on the floor with steps for your feet and behind them a circular hole. Never put your hand or any part of yourself in this hole. Bring your own paper.

3). To use, stand on the steps and face the door with your back to the rear wall and the hole. Do not attempt to use with your back to the door, the results will be unsatisfactory. Do not slip.

4) Keep the paper in your hand. Do not leave it in your pocket.

5) When squatting, do not fall over into the bowl. For balance some people find that it is helpful to use the wall for support. For hygiene reasons do not put your hands in the bowl.

6) Carry out your business which health experts believe to be easier in this position. Aim for the round hole in the floor.

7) Do not urinate on your feet.

8) Put any used paper into the hole in the floor. Do not let it fall from a height as it may flutter down and adhere to your ankle or heel, particularly difficult, if in sandals. This is not good.

9) On completion step onto the tiled area in front of the door. Never flush while standing or squatting on the loo.

10) Before flushing unlock the door and be fully prepared to leave. Pull the chain and exit smartly. Failure to do so may cause the flush water to cover your feet. This can be unpleasant especially if you are in sandals.

This is based on my experience over many years and I hope that it's helpful.to others

Ever since i ran out of toilet paper in the night in a typical basic but beautiful guesthouse in North Thailand in 1994, ive been using water ever since. I think using paper a dirty habit we should have all stopped years ago. I remember using a paticularly filthy french squat toilet in St Tropez many years ago which oddly enough got demolished, i heard, by a vehicle that lost its brakes. At home i have a bidet downstairs and up, but you can buy & easily fit a 'toilet shower' to you cistern. Very cheap on amazon.

 

[Mark Masters]

You need to get out more. They are still a thing, albeit a dying breed. I like the new auto cleaning Public Pissoir that are popping up all around France.

My Brother recently in France used aa auto cleaning public toilet. Found the door slightly ajar so pushed it open only find it was commencing the cleaning cycle. Couldn't get out so ended up with a 5 minute shower. Just disappointed that he didn't have his shampoo with him! Would loved to have been there to see him exit!

 

[Corradobrit]

My Brother recently in France used aa auto cleaning public toilet. Found the door slightly ajar so pushed it open only find it was commencing the cleaning cycle. Couldn't get out so ended up with a 5 minute shower. Just disappointed that he didn't have his shampoo with him! Would loved to have been there to see him exit!

Classic. In Epernay last Spring I had to stop a girl who was going in behind me. I felt I did my good deed for the day on that occasion.

 

[Jude]

I have found this on my computer and am posting it as it may be helpful to others. I wrote it in 2016 but it is still applicable today

Information on Using a French Toilet

The French are very generous in that they often provide a choice of a British sit down type or a French style squat loo.

This Note is guidance on using the squat type.

1) Do not enter the cubicle without shoes. It may look like shower but it is not.

2) You will see a porcelain basin on the floor with steps for your feet and behind them a circular hole. Never put your hand or any part of yourself in this hole. Bring your own paper.

3). To use, stand on the steps and face the door with your back to the rear wall and the hole. Do not attempt to use with your back to the door, the results will be unsatisfactory. Do not slip.

4) Keep the paper in your hand. Do not leave it in your pocket.

5) When squatting, do not fall over into the bowl. For balance some people find that it is helpful to use the wall for support. For hygiene reasons do not put your hands in the bowl.

6) Carry out your business which health experts believe to be easier in this position. Aim for the round hole in the floor.

7) Do not urinate on your feet.

8) Put any used paper into the hole in the floor. Do not let it fall from a height as it may flutter down and adhere to your ankle or heel, particularly difficult, if in sandals. This is not good.

9) On completion step onto the tiled area in front of the door. Never flush while standing or squatting on the loo.

10) Before flushing unlock the door and be fully prepared to leave. Pull the chain and exit smartly. Failure to do so may cause the flush water to cover your feet. This can be unpleasant especially if you are in sandals.

This is based on my experience over many years and I hope that it's helpful.to others

I have lived and travelled in France for 22 years and I cannot remember when and where I last saw a squat lavatory. Might have been at an 'aire' somewhere.

 

[RevPhil]

I have found this on my computer and am posting it as it may be helpful to others. I wrote it in 2016 but it is still applicable today

Information on Using a French Toilet

The French are very generous in that they often provide a choice of a British sit down type or a French style squat loo.

This Note is guidance on using the squat type.

1) Do not enter the cubicle without shoes. It may look like shower but it is not.

2) You will see a porcelain basin on the floor with steps for your feet and behind them a circular hole. Never put your hand or any part of yourself in this hole. Bring your own paper.

3). To use, stand on the steps and face the door with your back to the rear wall and the hole. Do not attempt to use with your back to the door, the results will be unsatisfactory. Do not slip.

4) Keep the paper in your hand. Do not leave it in your pocket.

5) When squatting, do not fall over into the bowl. For balance some people find that it is helpful to use the wall for support. For hygiene reasons do not put your hands in the bowl.

6) Carry out your business which health experts believe to be easier in this position. Aim for the round hole in the floor.

7) Do not urinate on your feet.

8) Put any used paper into the hole in the floor. Do not let it fall from a height as it may flutter down and adhere to your ankle or heel, particularly difficult, if in sandals. This is not good.

9) On completion step onto the tiled area in front of the door. Never flush while standing or squatting on the loo.

10) Before flushing unlock the door and be fully prepared to leave. Pull the chain and exit smartly. Failure to do so may cause the flush water to cover your feet. This can be unpleasant especially if you are in sandals.

This is based on my experience over many years and I hope that it's helpful.to others

As children we were told they were called ‘flush and runs’!

 

[BeatrixKiddo]

As a backpacker in India many years ago I recall going for a shower and being greeted by a sign with hand written drawing saying "no shitting in shower".

 

[Corradobrit]

As children we were told they were called ‘flush and runs’!

Or if you drank the tap water then "runs and flush....and run". Luckily things have improved over the last 50 years at both ends of the equation.

 

[willwander]

Japanese toilets set the gold standard.
First download the app, then set seat temperature, water temperature, pressure and direction, air dryer temperature, perfume fragrances etc, etc. Although figuring out the correct button to press can lead to a few surprises.

 

[BeerSmiff]

I remember working in Indonesia some years ago. It was the classic hover bog but supplemented with a bucket of water and a cloth in lieu of toilet paper. Neither water nor cloth had been changed for some time. It’s amazing how long you can hang on for if given the motivation.

 

[clarinetbcn]

I have found this on my computer and am posting it as it may be helpful to others. I wrote it in 2016 but it is still applicable today

Information on Using a French Toilet

The French are very generous in that they often provide a choice of a British sit down type or a French style squat loo.

This Note is guidance on using the squat type.

1) Do not enter the cubicle without shoes. It may look like shower but it is not.

2) You will see a porcelain basin on the floor with steps for your feet and behind them a circular hole. Never put your hand or any part of yourself in this hole. Bring your own paper.

3). To use, stand on the steps and face the door with your back to the rear wall and the hole. Do not attempt to use with your back to the door, the results will be unsatisfactory. Do not slip.

4) Keep the paper in your hand. Do not leave it in your pocket.

5) When squatting, do not fall over into the bowl. For balance some people find that it is helpful to use the wall for support. For hygiene reasons do not put your hands in the bowl.

6) Carry out your business which health experts believe to be easier in this position. Aim for the round hole in the floor.

7) Do not urinate on your feet.

8) Put any used paper into the hole in the floor. Do not let it fall from a height as it may flutter down and adhere to your ankle or heel, particularly difficult, if in sandals. This is not good.

9) On completion step onto the tiled area in front of the door. Never flush while standing or squatting on the loo.

10) Before flushing unlock the door and be fully prepared to leave. Pull the chain and exit smartly. Failure to do so may cause the flush water to cover your feet. This can be unpleasant especially if you are in sandals.

This is based on my experience over many years and I hope that it's helpful.to others

The first time I ever encountered one of these was in a very expensive restaurant across the street from my sister’s flat on the Île Sant-Louis in Paris in 1983. Not having had the benefit of these instructions, I pulled the chain while standing on the footprints and the water washed over the tops of my new Italian shoes. I was horrified.

 

[Corradobrit]

The first time I ever encountered one of these was in a very expensive restaurant across the street from my sister’s flat on the Île Sant-Louis in Paris in 1983. Not having had the benefit of these instructions, I pulled the chain while standing on the footprints and the water washed over the tops of my new Italian shoes. I was horrified.

Rookie mistake

 

[clarinetbcn]

Rookie mistake

Excruciating baptism by…water.
Kathleen Mayer’s wonderful book, whose title can’t be written on the Forum, has been a lifelong companion, but at the age of 28 nothing had prepared me for finding one of these gaping holes in the floor in a posh French restaurant.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Excruciating baptism by…water.
Kathleen Mayer’s wonderful book, whose title can’t be written on the Forum, has been a lifelong companion, but at the age of 28 nothing had prepared me for finding one of these gaping holes in the floor in a posh French restaurant. View attachment 130302

I wonder if the Forum’s software would still automatically change this to How To Sing in the Woods…

 

[Gavin123]

This is a brilliant thread and brightened my day. Top tip in all those instructions: "Do not slip".

 

[clarinetbcn]

This is a brilliant thread and brightened my day. Top tip in all those instructions: "Do not slip".

Right up there with “Do not urinate on your feet.” Of course if you make that mistake, you can always pull the chain and give them a good wash.

 

[Corradobrit]

And make sure you aim for the hole. Splash back can be brutal.

 

[DavidofHook]

I once saw, in Brisbane in a large very busy public toilet in a park, that someone had adopted the squat position on the seat of a western type sit down toilet, unfortunately leaving the result in a pile on the back of the seat. There were other compartments available so this one was best avoided.!
Just to clarify, I don’t travel the world inspecting toilets but when you see them you have to report……..

 

[clarinetbcn]

The irony is that it was my Paris shocker, not the ten years that I lived in Mexico and South America in the ‘80s, that prepared me for hiking in Nepal. I never saw one of these anywhere in Latin America. True, in the WCs of Nepal trekking guest houses there is no running water, rather a bucket of water and a pitcher and the familiar gaping hole in the floor, but no Himalaya newcomer exits the WC with “water” squishing out of their boots.

 

[vmaxkiddy]

I once saw, in Brisbane in a large very busy public toilet in a park, that someone had adopted the squat position on the seat of a western type sit down toilet, unfortunately leaving the result in a pile on the back of the seat. There were other compartments available so this one was best avoided.!
Just to clarify, I don’t travel the world inspecting toilets but when you see them you have to report……..

Some airlines had/have decals in the toilets prohibiting that.

 

[vmaxkiddy]

And make sure you aim for the hole. Splash back can be brutal.

 

[willwander]

in the WCs of Nepal trekking guest houses there is no running water, rather a bucket of water and a pitcher and the familiar gaping hole in the floor

Loo with a view

 

[clarinetbcn]

View attachment 130310

I saw this sign in a Swiss mountain hut near Montblanc. I collect long German words, and this is the longest so far. Translation: Instructions for the proper usage of the toilet brush.



Second place is Kriegsdienstverweigererdokumente, but that’s off topic.