Welcome to series in which I review public bathrooms in haiku form. In this entry I visit a McDonalds in Paris. It should probably come with some sort of reader discretionary warning. Or, if you’d prefer to use more modern vernacular, “tmi, girlfriend”.
Paris train station:
If you want friendly faces
Not the place to go.
At the Info Desk
“English? I speak a leetle”
Ending with a sigh.
Half an hour passed
Of queuing then gesturing
With garbled requests.
Our tickets to Bruges
Selected, booked and paid for
Safe in my pocket.
But to get them cheap
Our journey was fragmented
Not starting ‘til two.
It was eleven
And with three hours to kill
We went to Maccas.
(Yes, “eat local food”
But after a week in France
I had had enough.)
We sat in a booth
Nursing coffees for hours
Leeching free wifi.
Mid Facebook browsing
Nature called, as nature does
I made haste downstairs.
In the summer heat …
… with a fifteen kg pack …
… with recent weight gain …
… with too tight jeans on …
… after eating McDonalds …
… I did not feel good.
This bathroom helped none:
Paper towels littered the floor
Inhuman odours.
A stall’s door ajar
Indicating vacancy
Beckoned towards me.
I grimly sat down
Trying to avoid thinking
Of words such as “stain”…
… or “smear” or “puddle”…
… “communicable disease”…
… “sick” and “infection”.
Eager to escape
I reached for the toilet roll
To end this visit.
Too late I realised
I’d forgotten the first rule
Of public bathrooms.
Before you sit down
Nay – before you unbuckle
Check paper is there.
‘Twas six long hours
‘Til our hostel check-in time
‘Til I could shower.
Employing girl tricks
I called meekly to neighbours
But no reply came.
I checked my pockets
Hoping for a backup plan
A napkin, perhaps?
But I was thwarted
By my own efficiency
All pockets were bare.
My options all out
I resorted to cardboard
The paper’s friend – tube.
Not a sensation
I would enjoy repeating
(Unyielding and tough.)
Call me uncultured
But I feel like this bathroom
Summed up “Paris, France”.
Let's Get Milkshakes! 
so glad you’re back at it, cuz. Loved this post – had me and my man chuckling away!!
Thanks Jess! So glad you liked it 🙂
HAHA. Interesting articulation of your disgust of Parisian bathrooms. Tell me, did you see any plastic bags full of pee on the steps of the train station, because that was the thing I remembered from there. Perhaps, they too were disgusted with the bathroom situation and opted for a plastic bag instead haha.
Oh my goodness! No, I did NOT see that, or that would have been a post all on its own, believe me. Ew ew ew.