The only one left (bis)

I already wrote about « the only one left » here – soon 11 years ago – how time flies! I will not repeat what I wrote then, about the “vespasiennes”, about the 1200 of them in Paris during the 1930’s etc…

So, the last one is still there. It was obviously repainted, cleaned… some ten years ago. It seems obvious that something has to be done again - it’s in very bad shape. As it’s the last one I hope it will remain there and will be saved forever, after some refreshing, please!!. It’s still used, but you need some courage!

This has nothing to do with the “vespasienne”, but very close you find this building (71 bis, bouldevard Arago) with a very particular architecture. I haven’t been able to find any more information except that it was built in 1900.

The only one left

This is the only one left of this model. The first public street urinals appeared in Paris around 1840. There were some 1200 of them around 1930. They were called “vespasiennes” in “honour” of the Roman emperor Vespasian (9-79) who imposed tax on the public urinals. From him and those days comes also the expression that “money doesn’t stink” (Pecunia non olet).

This one can thus still be found just outside the wall of the Santé Prison. “Santé” means “health” in French, but the prison name comes from the street which leads to a hospital (Sainte Anne). The prison dates from 1867 and is also the only one left inside the Paris borders. I’m ready to make some efforts for my posts, but I entered neither the urinal, nor the prison. Today the “vespasiennes” have been replaced by “sanisettes”, self cleaning, unisex toilets. There are some 400 of them in Paris. All public lavatories in Paris are nowadays free of charge. Nicer, free of charge and public toilets can be found here and there, e.g. in the metro station “Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre”. (Thanks Alain - who gave me the hint when we met during the weekend.) This station is also remarkable for its particular entrance decoration, on which I made a post last year. The nicest public toilet in Paris can however be found close to the Madeleine Church. It was created in 1905, is classified as a historical monument and considered as (one of) the most beautiful public toilet(s) in the world. You can see more details on my post from last year. You can of course also use the toilets of different restaurants and bars, but the quality is varying. My recommendation is to just walk in to one of the better hotels. They have in general excellent rest rooms, also free of charge.