This blog post is going to be about the bathrooms habits of the French. An indelicate topic to be sure, but a timely one, as Americans have gone apoplectic (one might say anal) about being in a restroom with someone who may or may not be of the same sex. The French response would of course be: Bof! Big Gallic shrug, if not absolute bewilderment.
The very first time we came to France, (quite a while ago), we were surprised to see that the French men had no compunction about peeing when they need to pee, wherever they were. They normally displayed some shred of decorum; they stepped off to the side of the street, or down an alley, or behind a bush perhaps. This has become less common since we've been here, but you still see it sometimes. (Photo left: un gar, as yet untrained in discretion, does his thing in Cluny, ).
On the main street of nearby Buxy, there is un pissoir (a urinal) positioned just behind a fence on the sidewalk between two buildings, but facing the sidewalk. So one often passes a guy standing there, only his feet, head, and shoulders visible, and you can hear the, ahem, activity. And if le gentilhomme is wearing a hat, he might tip it to les femmes as they pass. No one is bothered in the least.
In our favorite café in the middle of Cluny, until recently there was one closed toilet room and then a unisex sink just outside of it, plus a pissoir. So often, when I was washing my hands or touching up my lipstick, and there was a man with his back to me, about six inches away, doing his thing.
Anywhere in France where there are separate restrooms for genders, what you will not see is a long line to the women’s restroom and none to the men’s. The women will simply go right into the men’s room and take care of their business, and ignore les mecs. No one even raises an eyebrow. And I should note that at our (admittedly small) local elementary school they manage to cope just fine with one group restroom.
Perhaps you’ve seen the latest tourist attraction in Paris. They have placed pissoirs on the sidewalks, and to dress them up, they painted them bright red and plunked a planter on top, overflowing with flowers. The box below holds straw, which is recycled into fertilizer. Now that’s class! Well sort of.
Unlike in the States, in France personal finances or investments of any sort are a taboo subject. Nicole always says this: "The French can’t talk about money and Americans can’t talk about sex." This is spot on. The French are refreshingly loose about matters sexual, even when it comes to basic and natural bodily functions. Why can’t everyone be left to do their own thing, and we all just get on with it? In our pissing contest, I declare France the winner.
In the COMMENTS: Do not miss Natalia's main dish recipe for stuffed tomatoes, which sounds fabulous and which I must make toute de suite before the summer tomatoes disappear. By email, Michaela (of Villa Ragazzi wine fame) sends an easy tomato gratin, find the recipe here. Meanwhile Jane has a clever solution for the liquid in tomato dishes, thanks Jane! Artist Coleen Taylor (if you haven't seen her wonderful work, check it out here), has a great new tomato variety to tell you about. Colleen, I couldn't resist showing off one of your wonderful new florals (left).
Favorite READS: Here are two great cookbooks by one of our readers. Both on subjects I want to read about! Suzanne Dunaway is the author, and she's an artist as well–her site is here. Her books are Rome, At Home : The Spirit of La Cucina Romana in Your Own Kitchen
PS I've added a SEARCH feature to my blog, so you can now search for recipes or posts by key words.
13 thoughts on “A Pissing Contest: The French Way, or Our Way?”
Lynn! I am absolutely thrilled that you included my work of “Tulipes Du Jardin” on your blog! I’m so excited & you certainly made my day!
When I saw that photo of the darling boy “pissing” I had to literally laugh out loud. I’m so puzzled why people get up in arms about this bathroom issue. I never hesitate to make a dash into the men’s room if the need be. When you gotta go, you gotta go! Wonderful blog post once again.
Je vous remercie,
Colleen Taylor
Oh, you wonderful woman. Thank you so much for the book comments and I am happy to write for you anytime, anywhere, of my French experiences and recipes that have earned me a cooking class to come in Collioure! I adored The Man From Moscow….a GREAT book. Also loved News of the World, and also loved (dysfunctional family book, my favourite) They Say They Don’t Mean To But They Do. Not to mention Less, a novel of a very different love story, beautiful writer, and also Grace, a moving novel about dying and death and handling it.
Would so love to contribute anything you wish to your GREAT website. LOVE the tomato tarts and have another recipe I will send for tomatoes in general. A great plethora in my neighbor’s garden, which he shares with us.
Loulou and Suzanne Dunaway
What a fun post Lynn. So true! We are in Coullioure now and wish Susan was offering her cooking class this month!
During our first long drive across France, we kept seeing blue signs labeled with a white ‘P’ at intermittent spots along the most well-traveled roads. After a couple of days my husband decided that the signs were not for Parking, as we had previously thought, but for Pissing, since every time we passed one, a frenchmen had pulled his car over and was casually “doing his thing” as you would say.
Beautiful floral painting, must visit the site …..
bonnie in provence
I had not seen the Paris Pissoirs! They’re pretty good, I must admit. When I first came to France I was uneasy about having to pass by men peeing in the unisex toilets in order to get to the closed cabin. Not bothered now, but if they would aim it would be good.
bonnie in provence
Well, this explains it! While I was hiking in Spain in May/June on the Camino de Santiago this year I was amazed a few times to see a man, a hiker, standing just off the trail, urinating. By just off the trail I mean barely out of the way of the other hikers. I kept thinking ‘seems like he could have had a little decency and moved further off the trail or, better yet, out of sight!’ Now I am no prude and there have been several times when I opted for the men’s room due to overcrowding in the ladies but there was never a man in there and I always had a friend “stand guard”.
The picture of the little boy reminds me of my grandsons. They love “going” in the yard, the woods, anywhere outdoors no matter who’s around.
Can’t wait to try the tomato gratin tonight!
I have to admit that when the email popped into my inbox, I did a bit of a double take. But as usual, it’s a really good post. It’s not just Americans visiting France for the first time who are taken aback by a lot of French toilets; lots of Brits are too.
But the more you visit France, the more you give an inward shrug and think, “Pourquoi non?”.
Lynn, once again you have outdone yourself with this post:not only for the subject matter
(which is often overlooked) but for the wonderful,humorous way you presented what might be considered a delicate subject.
I remember my dad describing the pissoirs in Paris,and how the peasant women there would just squat down and pee on the sidewalks.(I didn’t believe him,of course.He’d lived in Paris with my mom before and during World War Two).But! Lo and behold,when Rod(my husband) and I lived there in the 60’s,I saw them doing exactly that. Nobody gave it a second thought except to carefully step around.
And! On our drives through Europe,many times the men would just pull off to the side of the road and ‘take care of business”.Many times,never mind possible innocent onlookers!
As I’m sure you are aware of,here in the US, the most recent hullabaloo was over transgender bathrooms.
I am with you.When it comes to a pissing contest,why can’t we just get on with it?????
Tried the tomato gratin last night with grilled pork chops and steamed broccoli. It was the hit of the evening! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I agree with you; France is the winner. Americans are very hyper-focused on the wrong issues. Restrooms should be labeled restrooms or toilets so all people can use them. I too will go to a men’s room when the line is outrageously long for the women’s room. Why should we squirm? Mandating names on toilets is absurd.
Summer 1968 in Paris. I was an American student (17) dating a Parisian boy. Memorable first date was not the Eiffel Tower, wine and roses or escargot. Near Sacre Couer we both used the same busy, very public restroom at the same time. I have never forgotten that experience. I felt very French. C’est la vie !
Spot on! When I was a child in the 70’s my brother and I used to amuse ourselves on the long drive to the south of France every year by playing ‘spot the man doing a wee’. I’m glad to say this game can still be played nowadays and I saw two men relieving themselves last weekend, one in a supermarket car park. Washing my hands beside a man taking a leak doesn’t bother me. Love those Parisien pissoirs!