Oui-Oui: not your père's pissoir

Paris is an amazingly clean city. Street sweepers work every day of the week. And there are public toilets available on streets all over the city (420 of them). Until February of this year it cost 40 centimes (euro) to use one, but now they are accés gratuit (free!). According to an aide to the Paris mayor, the change was not done to help tourists (“Tourists do not have a problem paying”) but “to help everyone”.

The toilets are known by their brand name: Sanisettes. They’re made by JC Decaux, the same company that makes the advertising display systems all over Paris. The Sanisettes are high tech and resemble a Star Trek device. Instructions are written in French on the outside, but getting into them is no problem if you don’t speak French. There is a red sign stating occupe if a person is inside or if someone has recently left but the unit is still cleaning itself. A big arrow points to a button. Push it and when the sanisette is libre (free) (or after completing its cleaning cycle) it will open. The stainless steel door slides open robotically and you enter an excretory space capsule. Floor sensors detect your presence and automatically seal the door. Don’t worry about sitting on the bowl with wet droplets; it’s just been sanitized and disinfected. There is plenty of toilet paper. After finishing, you’ll note a running stream of water in a little opening behind you. Put your hands inside and you’ll be squirted with soap and you can wash. A blow dryer comes on automatically for the grand ending. There is a door handle inside so you can exit when you want to, but it will open in 15 minutes, ready or not. After you leave the unit, the door will close and you’ll hear whooshing and mechanical noises as it washes away all residue of your visit.
Caution: don’t leave small children alone in a Sanisette. The floor sensors require a certain weight to prevent the automatic cleaning cycle from triggering.

There is talk of designing a more attractive unit and supplementing it with an outside tap for drinking water. See my previous post on Wallace Fountains for a discussion on the importance of public drinking water. With all the homeless people living on our streets in the great cities of the US, and the large numbers of tourists in the same places, why haven’t we undertaken such a common sense measure? How many toilets could we provide with the cost of one day of the War in Iraq?

Comments

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Kudos Paris mayor for making the toilets free

[sharon jadrnicek]

Ya gotta love it! Think the French are probably the most practical people on earth! Maybe we should start a campaign when you get back! We really need these here. sheri

[trawnagal]

I love those space capsule toilets! They were just beginning to show up the last time I was in France - 1990. What a huge improvement over the old, green pissoires and those awkward "troux d'eau."

You're right about drinking fountains, tourists and the homeless. I spent the summer in Montreal and got lost on an outing. I couldn't afford to buy water and was almost hallucinting from dehydration. Two ladies enjoying the Mountain that day shared their water with me. Don't know what I would have done otherwise.

There used to be water fountains in parks and schools, etc. I think fears of spreading disease and the fact that people will now pay for water have killed them off. Oh yes, and the fact that so many dogs drink out the perpetually running ones!

I couldn't find the link to the Wallace Fountain. Does this help deal with the drawbacks of traditional drinking fountains?

Also glad to hear that Paris is very clean. This was not always the case - tidy yes, but clean, no - not in the "old days" anyway.

Love your site. Love Paris. Good luck on your quest.

[Dorcourt]

Paris has free public toilets, the sanisettes, but as you may have noticed,you never know where to find them!
Fortunately, there is now “Paris Pause-pipi Guide”:it is the one and only guide that lets you quickly spot on a map the location of the nearest sanisette.
To obtain this Ebook, simply download it from http://www.paris.pause-pipi.fr !
Good walks in Paris!