Little House on the Rue

I thought I would entertain you with more tidbits about the overpriced itty bitty apartment on Rue Joubert.

Thought you might like to see a picture of the bathroom. Why? Because there are some things about it that are fascinating. First, anyone who introduces a shower door/curtain concept to Europe will make a fortune. I have heard we are lucky to have this half glass thing in the shower, but it does not stop the floor from getting soaked. One day, in fact, I created a little tidal pool after washing my hair. When I opened my eyes there were L&P having a great time splashing in the waves up to their knees. I used our allotment of towels for the week to dry the floor. So now, though the tub is 12 feet long, I take a shower within three inches of the shower head to make sure I don't create another flood. And could someone send us a washcloth or two? They also seem to be missing in France. You will not find one anywhere. I have no explanation for that one.

Notice in the mirror reflection that there is an awful lot of clothes hanging on what we think is a towel warmer. That's because we live in The Little House on the Rue. There are no facilities to do laundry here nor is there a laundry nearby. Perhaps that is why the giant department stores have tons of underwear and socks? No one washes, they just replace them?

We can have our stuff sent out to the Pressing/Laundry and it costs a lot. For example- a men's shirt in the U.S. would cost a couple of bucks to clean and press. Here it is about 6E which is about $9 George Bush inflated dollars. Undies are pretty expensive too. Socks, not so much. So, I find myself doing laundry by hand almost everyday. Everytime I gather it all I think of the creek on Little House. Sigh.

And just to make it all the more fun, the service our hotel uses is not a French laundry. I just found that out yesterday when they came back with dress shirts yet again folded in paper instead of on hangers, including one newly felted cashmere sweater. Turns out that it is a Chinese laundry and the French desk staff are lacking in their Chinese speaking skills. So here we were thinking it was a language issue, trying to translate our simple dry clean instructions into French so they will be clearly understood never imagining...........

And last, but important, P has asked me to rate the bathroom on Rue Joubert a good old 9. She stands outside the shower every morning withher tongue hanging out - which I finally learned meant that she was catching the shower spray just for kicks. Now, that is a Boston Terrier.