Last year on February 1st, the city made available to the public for free these 200+ curbside toilets. (I swear there are more than that—I see them everywhere!) I remember when these Sanisettes (self-sanitizing street toilets) required 40 euro cents to operate (about $.52). I don’t remember trying one but “Sista Sam” did in the Netherlands, I think—outside the train station in Haarlem. How do they work? When you finish and step out, the toilet actually sprays itself clean before the next person is allowed to enter. They’re even heated!
Unfortunately, we can’t let the dogs in there but wouldn’t you think that all pedestrians would choose to use them instead of the curb, the Metro, a dark alley? Not necessarily. But to be fair, the Sanisettes are closed between 10 PM and 6 AM because they were becoming “homes” for—hmmm, yes—the homeless people. So when you gotta go, you gotta go. It’s against the law for anyone to be caught taking a leak in the streets of Paris—you can be fined 183 euros or for repeat offenders, 450 euros. This “law” is probably enforced like the one for not cleaning up after the dogs.So now when I ask, “Ou sont les toilettes?”, they just point me out to the street…
