It's Potty Time in Europe

It's potty time in Europe! Yes, it's time to check out some of the places in which one can dispose of their ... er... waste while in France, Germany, and Switzerland.

On a recent vacation in Europe, my friend and fellow author Janice Howden and I saw amazing scenery, churches, canals, castles and more. But I was also intrigued by the variety of toilets we saw on our journey - because my weird mind works that way.

Jan (right) is the author of Rescued, her puppy dog's true story of finding a forever home. Jan and I were thrilled to see tulip fields for the first time.
No, there is no toilet in this photo. It's just a photo of us during one of the best moments of our trip. We loved the tulip fields in the Netherlands.

I found it interesting that European hotel rooms often have shoe shine cloths but no wash cloths or facial tissue, like those we are accustomed to using in North America. So you can clean your shoes but not use something to wash your face or wipe your nose.

We used this new-fangled, self-cleaning public toilet in Paris. It is on a sidewalk near the Notre Dame Cathedral. You press a button to enter. The door opens and closes behind you.

After you've done your business, you wash and blow-dry your hands. You press a button inside to exit the toilet. Then the door closes and locks so the toilet can clean itself with sanitizing water/spray before it allows the next person to enter. But you have to be done in 20 minutes or the toilet door opens! And you'd better not wait until the last minute to get in line because it takes a LONG time with the toilet cleaning after each person is done. You're better off using a pay toilet or going to a restaurant and buying something to use their toilet. The toilet room staff in those places help maintain cleanliness and ensure safety.  

This toilet in our hotel room in Basel, Switzerland gained my respect for its use of gravity. The tank is the highest placement above the toilet bowl than any I've ever seen. You even have to reach up a bit to use the flushing handle. Obviously not meant to be operated by children.

This fascinating trio of public toilets sits in Basel, Switzerland, beside a walking path along the Rhine River. I didn't go inside any of these street toilets, but I was very curious about the toilet on the left with the large, peeing man on it. His hat is probably a sleep hat, but I couldn't help thinking he was a jester from the old days. Stay tuned on that one...

Jan posed in front of this collection of self-cleaning toilets in downtown Basel. These toilets had better signage inside to explain the various functions.

The interior, although wet from the last sanitizing wash, was sparse and clean.

Toilet paper, anyone? It self-dispenses when you put your hand near it.

Water to wash. Dryer to dry.

At a public park in Switzerland, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to see what this toilet was like inside. Big mistake. BIG! The image on the outside was the only funny thing about this toilet.
There are doors on both sides. Just standing near the entrance to one of the open doors was enough for me. Inside was a long trough on either side - one for Number One and one for Number Two. They were not cleaned out. If there was a flushing mechanism, it had not been used. I did not see anything for hand washing. I'm hoping I just missed these essential items because I left so quickly. Ewwwww! No wonder the doors were left open on both sides.
At least in the outhouse on the farm where I grew up in Western Canada, everything was down one hole dug into the ground, out of plain view, and the open air reduced the smell, especially in winter. Yuk.

Sorry about that. Moving on...

Now this I recognize! It's a Port-a-potty - European style - at a construction site in Switzerland.

In Koblenz, Germany we saw these portable potties at a downtown market square. I couldn't resist taking a photo of them with the fountain in the foreground. Maybe the water helps some people "go".

And now, we go back to the time before Christ, when the Romans had sewage systems, indoor plumbing and heated floors. These are the remains of a Roman sewer system in Cologne. Fascinating.

The Romans had running water, treated sewage, and other services that disappeared for generations after wars destroyed their innovations. So sad is the damage caused by war.

Ah, now, this is the toilet style I am used to - a flushing toilet, a clean bathroom, a sink to wash up - except the toilet paper is considerably lower down here than you'll see in North American bathrooms. I don't understand the thinking, but this was on a river cruise ship, so maybe space was a factor. It worked, though, except in the middle of the night once, when I had to search for the roll I had accidentally knocked off its low hanger. Oops.

And that concludes my look at some potties in some parts of Europe.

As our friend, the late Bob Hughes, former sports editor and managing editor of the Regina Leader-Post used to say, "Y'er welcome.”

Swiss Cows, French Statues & World Peace - Blog Part 14

Switzerland! The last country we visited on our exciting European adventure. I was SO EXCITED!

I'm the Never Leave Your Wingman book and I've been blogging about our summer trip to Europe. I wasn't nearly as excited about seeing Switzerland as my author Deana and her husband, Publisher Al. They were anxious to see this country known for its alps, independence and beauty.

Where does Swiss chocolate come from?

 Swiss cows, of course!

We saw Swiss bison, too. That was unexpected.

Here I am, sitting on the dash of our rental vehicle, watching the world outside - including this Swiss ambulance.

We stopped at this shopping mall which extended over the highway. We wanted to see if we could buy a small souvenir of Switzerland without breaking our budget. Switzerland is expensive, you see. We'd already paid 40 Swiss francs (about $40 Canadian) for a permit to drive through Switzerland that day. 

We bought a quick lunch at a Burger King in the highway mall. One Whopper meal with fries and a drink plus an additional Whopper burger cost 24 Swiss francs - about $25 Canadian! That's probably close to double what it would have cost in Canada. You could have knocked our sandals off with a feather at that point!

Speaking of footwear...

...we saw these fashionable shoes in a mall shop and I had to pose for a photo with them. My subject - seven-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner - loves shoes, so I just couldn't help but think of her when I saw these shoes. Especially the pink ones. Have I said before that I LOVE PINK! I have? Well, there you go.

Have I said I also love silly things... like this cow and calf that were advertising a store in the mall. I wanted to get a close-up look at them. They're not the kind of cattle you see every day. 

Nor do you see this sight every day...  

...two balloons randomly hanging around in an elevator in a mall. It puzzled me and my author, so we took a photo. Just because.

So here you'll see my author/publisher and Publisher Al just standing by our rental vehicle in the Switzerland shopping mall parking lot. Again - just because.

A short while after our drive through Switzerland, we arrived in the town of Colmar, France. A woman we met at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris told us that we should visit Colmar because it is so beautiful. So we decided to follow her advice.

We knew pretty much nothing about the town except that it is in the Alsace region of France, near Germany's Black Forest. So imagine our surprise when we saw this view at a roundabout (traffic circle) on the northern edge of the town as we got closer to our hotel.

Yep. It's a replica of the Statue of Liberty. In France!

Why, you ask? 

Well... Auguste Bartholdi is the man who created the Statue of Liberty that sits in the harbour near New York City. And he was born in Colmar, France. 

So this is the world's largest replica of the statue. It was unveiled in 2004 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Bartholdi's death.

We were among many, many passersby who stood in front of that 12-metre-high statue for a photo. Can you see me in this photo?

How about now?

Colmar calls itself 'La Petite Venice'. It does have a couple of canals. Pretty, but definitely 'petite' compared to Venice - or even Bruges, Venice of the North.

This corner honours local artist Bartholdi. 

This hat honours.... um... storks?

My author and I found this statue to be quite fascinating.

It is called Monument Pfeffel. Theophile-Conrad Pfeffel was born in 1736 and lost his sight in 1757. The monument says he "devoted his life to literature and teaching: in 1773 he founded a military academy for training young Protestants unable to attend the Royal Academy, and in 1803 was made president of the Evangelical Consistory of Colmar. He left a collection of poems, fables, stories and short stories. This statue which was made by Charles Geiss in 1927 is a sandstone copy of the original work by Andreé Friedrich (1859)."

Colmar has some beautiful historic buildings, like this chruch, ...  

Fancy door knockers...

... interesting intricate latches for window shutters...

... and a camel? Yeah, it surprised me, too. I think it was outside a Moroccan-themed restaurant. Publisher Al looks like he wants to take it for a walk, doesn't he?

What’s on the menu at this restaurant? Well, there's pork ... And me!
Thumbs up from the chef. Thank you, kind sir.

So Colmar, France marked the end of our wonderful trip to Europe. We returned our rental vehicle to the agency in Frankfurt, Germany.

Publisher Al drove 9,348.3 kilometres during five and a half weeks. We saw parts of eight countries plus Vatican City and Monaco and had an absolutely wonderful time.

We boarded our Condor plane for the long flight home, and enjoyed the view en route.
We flew over Greenland and Baffin Island - two more places I thought I'd never see.

We landed in Calgary and transferred to a WestJet flight to Regina.

Home Sweet Home. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) train in Regina, so this mighty moose is a reminder of that fact.  

Oh, yeah - the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the 2013 Grey Cup ... on their home field in Regina this fall. It had nothing to do with our trip but everything to do with where we live. Go Riders!  

Well, that's it. This is the final blog in my series. I hope you enjoyed following me as I revisited my Excellent European Adventure with my author and publisher. I had fun reliving our trip and showing you some of the sights we saw and the emotions we experienced. It was quite the adventure!

So... 

...with a French macaron tree...

...and a prayer candle that we lit in a church in France,

we wish you, your family and friends

a blessed holiday and a wonderful 2014.

And with this beautiful image we saw on a sidewalk in Switzerland, 

we especially wish you and the whole world

Peace.