Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

The Ugliest Bathroom in the World and the Eiffel Tower

The ugliest bathroom in the world is on top of the Eiffel Tower. The second ugliest bathroom in the world is the one we remodeled when we first moved into our home. Remember the other day I mentioned that the first bathroom we remodeled had an avocado colored sink and brown tiles? Remember how I couldn't find a photo to show you?

Well today I was stumped about what to put on my blog because yesterday's post hovered over my head making me feel overwhelmed and all. Gee, how do I follow up with something Original and Clever and Equal-To-Yesterday's-Post…

Whenever I feel uninspired I scroll through my photo albums for inspiration.
Low and behold I found our Ugly Bathroom Photos. You might want to sit down because the shock of their ugliness might catch you off guard. (Note: I didn't start off with a photo because I did not want to scare you first thing in the morning.)

ugly bathroom

The first time I visited our home I knew it would be ours. (In French they call that feeling a "coup de coeur.") I had a coup de coeur… and let me tell you it was love at first sight. It didn't matter that one of the bathrooms was this ugly. I took photos of it  like a girl first falling in love. Rose colored glasses are wonderful.

ugly bathroom

The owners did not bother to stage the house and it did not matter. I was not looking at the reality but rather of the possibilities.

ugliest bathroom in the world

Did you know that French toilet paper is often pink? It is true. Pink is the preferred color. I have tried to understand why for years. I am weird like that.

Eiffel tower bathroom

Another one of my weird habits is that whenever I go anywhere I have to check out the bathroom. Especially when I am in landmark place. Landmark places where one would not want to waste time checking out the bathroom unless need be.
This is a photo of the doorknob in the bathroom on top of the Eiffel Tower.

eiffel tower bathroom

Here is the sink…and well you can image where I was sitting to take this photo.

View from the eiffel tower in paris

And this is one of the views from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel tower
…just know that what goes up must come down. Part of me took the elevator. The other part who knows.

What is one of your weird or wacky habits? Come on you can tell me!

Comments

32 responses to “The Ugliest Bathroom in the World and the Eiffel Tower”

  1. Annie

    I’m awake in the United States (it’s 4:40 AM) because I have insomnia; now I’m really awake after seeing the two bathrooms above; however, you warned me. You’re right though: one can see the possibilities beneath the brown and avocado. That house just needed the right heart to come along and voila! the right heart did.

    Reply
  2. Britt-Arnhild in Norway

    I have a bathroom story similar to yours which I wrote about two years ago here:
    <http://brittarnhildshouseinthewoods.typepad.com/brittarnhilds_house_in_th/2007/05/importance.html>
    Terje and I knew as soon as we walked into the House in the Woods that it was perfect for us, except from the bathroom. We will move here we said to each other, but we will have to renovate the master bathroom I pointed out. Then I went to Africa for two weeks, I came home and knew that a new bathroom was not my top priority anymore, and the orange, green and brown bathroom is still there.
    Some day we will do something though……

    Reply
  3. Britt-Arnhild in Norway

    The libk is missing, I don’t know why. I give it another try:
    http://brittarnhildshouseinthewoods.typepad.com/brittarnhilds_house_in_th/2007/05/importance.html

    Reply
  4. Britt-Arnhild in Norway

    No, the link doesn’t work, unfortunaletly. The actual post I am referring to is from May 2007.

    Reply
  5. Jeanne

    Love and hugs to you
    Love all you share

    Reply
  6. La Framéricaine

    Interestingly enough, I too am awake in the USA (it’s 4:12, so Annie and I must be in different time zones–since it was 11:41am your time, Annie must be in CST and I am in PST). I wonder if Annie is like me and can’t sleep due to the impending inauguration if B.H. Obama.
    I haven’t had a “bathroom” proprement dit for 3 years. We can pee and wash our hands in the beater trailer but we have to walk 67 steps across a parking lot to take showers in unisex communal shower rooms. So, your ugly bathroom looks pretty good to me, although, I haven’t had a bath in 20 years–only showers.
    I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if Obama wasn’t on the verge of becoming the first Anglo-African American President of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave because there’s a serious cat fight doing on on just the other side of the aluminum and press-board walls of our humble abode.
    PS I check on whether or not there are books in the abodes I enter–books/good, no books/bad;>)

    Reply
  7. Gracie

    Me too, I have to see the bathrooms, whether I need it or not. Private homes, restaurants, bars, museums, whatever. I don’t know where this obsession comes from, but that’s it.

    Reply
  8. kenju

    A friend and I are going to a new restaurant here in town next week, just because we have heard that there is something in the ladies’ room we will want to see!
    I did not go to the restroom atop the Eiffel Tower. The night I was there, it was so cold I don’t think I could have persuaded myself to lower my pants!!

    Reply
  9. 1eyedmonkee

    During our early years living in Europe, I was fascinated by HOW toilets flush. I wish I had photos of all of the different ones I encountered along the way. Buttons on the wall, pedals on the floor, etc. Since then people have actually written books about it! Toilet paper can best be described as crepe paper!! My personal favorite was being directed to a “bathroom” in a bar (in Spain that’s where you have coffee) to a roof top, with a goat tied up next to me – I was first introduced to a turkish toilet. There’s nothing like the adventure of figuring it all out – ugly tile or no.

    Reply
  10. Kit

    Wow those tiles look like something under a microscope in a biology test book from school! Make your other bathroom’s sky blue tiles look positively gorgeous!!!

    Reply
  11. becky up the hill

    Now that we have seen the ‘before’ in this bathroom, will you show the ‘after’? Thanks for sharing Corey! Ha, you want to know what I love to see! I want to see vintage linens when I go anywhere. If I go on a tour of an historic house, open to the public I ask if there are any original linens. Have you ever been to Filoli/Woodside, Ca? No original linens to be seen, but a wonderful linen cabinet with drawers. When I went to the White House I emailed and asked to see linens, but no-one got back to me..lol?! I didn’t want to pester them, as they are kind of strict/funny there!

    Reply
  12. Lisa Johnson

    I have been in the Eiffel Tower bathrooms and you are so right. They are awful. Didn’t really pay much attention at the time as I was was just so thrilled to actually be in Paris. Thanks for the little reminder.
    XO,
    Lisa

    Reply
  13. Toni Brown

    Ahem — I like the avocado green pedestal sink, I coulda worked with that once the rest had been adios’d. Meanwhile, I took that exact same photo (the view I mean) from the top of La Tour … mmmmmmmmm. Loveliness.
    Weird habit. Any time I go to anyone’s home for the first time, I find myself compulsively reading the titles of every book on his/her bookshelves. If they don’t have books visible, I become suspicious about this person’s sanity and will start opening doors to find the books. I don’t develop trust easily with people who don’t own books — what do they DO with themselves on a rainy afternoon?

    Reply
  14. Paris Parfait

    You are hilarious, taking a photo of the doorknob of the Eiffel Tower bathroom. But what a view from the top of the tower, eh? As for the pink toilet tissue, I, too, have wondered about it, ever since moving to France. Apparently, the stores get a discount for buying pink toilet tissue in bulk. But have you ever seen anyone actually buying the pink toilet paper? Me neither! (Unless every other option was exhausted). It is a mystery and none of my French friends can explain it – and they swear they know nobody who buys the stuff.
    Your bathroom renovation was a definite improvement over the way it was when you first laid eyes on it! No doubt your second one will be terrific, too.

    Reply
  15. Alina

    The bathroom wasn’t that bad and you are one of the rare individuals to see the possibilities of people, places and things.
    OMG, the ET bathrooms are a travesty! Did you write your name on the wall? No, I didn’t. Someone with a name close to mine had already signed for me. That was not exactly where I wanted to announce “I was here.”
    Weird habit: I take off my shoes first thing when I get home. Can’t stand to wear shoes indoors. I also do this at close friend’s houses. I am barefoot as I type this. What are you wearing? 😀

    Reply
  16. Rosemary

    Wow Corey,
    That is some ugly bathroom!!
    Just the color of the toilet is enough to scare you.
    Have a great day!!
    Rosemary

    Reply
  17. martina

    And we all think that everything the French design is stylish! I remember being with my Dad at a small country pub in Ireland. He asked to use the restroom. When he came back from there his face was pale and he looked stunned. The “restroom” apparently was a toilet out in an dirty open area by the backyard. Worst restroom I’ve ever been in was one at a gas station in Tijuana, Mexico.

    Reply
  18. Judith

    So funny! The ugliest bathroom I have ever been in was in Belgium. It was this tiny, dirty, dark brown bathroom. I’ll never forget it! Great post and terrible bathroom!
    xoxo
    Judith~

    Reply
  19. Alina

    Amen to your Amen, sister!

    Reply
  20. Erin

    so now we need to find out why the French prefer pink toilet paper…lol

    Reply
  21. Joanny

    Corey
    Pardon my French pun intended –
    blond américain farfelu intelligent chic de tress
    C’était hilare votre mari ouvrant son ordinateur portable au travail et à l’exposition de musique et d’art pour que ses collègues voient inopinément –
    I am still laughing over your comment with your husband turning on his laptop at work to the tune of dance music and naked men
    Now to learn about your bathroom adventures– too hilarious! when I was a little girl — my Father would always check out the kitchen of the restaurants (who was cooking — where they wearing plastic gloves etc,
    and where they kept their food, i.e in the cellar basements, my Dad worked for a food supply house in New York who delivered food products, so he knew which Restaurants were really clean & without pests — rats … and much to my surprise many big name/fancy restaurants were not always on the “A” list..the cleanist… sometimes at 4:00 am in the morning my Dad would wake me and take me with him for the ride then when he was finished around 6:00 clock in the summer months we would go to the beach and watch the sun come up and I would collect starfish and shells, then we would go to the bakery and have rolls with real butter and I would dip it in his creamed coffee Umm so good…fond memories. Joanny

    Reply
  22. cathy

    Amen OBAMA!!!!! HOOOOOOORAAAAAYYYYYY

    Reply
  23. Sara

    Yes, i have peed in that very same bathroom at the eiffel Tower, and may I say your “old” bathroom is way uglier. Seriously, that is some sorry Sh*t. WOW. BUT, hurray for the remodeling!!! ^_^ I suppose it’s fair to ahve such a hideous bathroom when the rest of your house is so gorgeous.

    Reply
  24. Mim

    Corey
    Funny girl.
    I do the same thing.
    I have the most beautiful blue white floor tile pictures from a bathroom floor in Tokyo, taken last year when we lived there.
    Those handy dandy little cameras are good for something!
    Mim

    Reply
  25. Susan

    So funny! I have been known to visit every bathroom as a child. Just to check it out. Still do! And, my daughter is the same way! Maybe it’s genetic.

    Reply
  26. Susan

    I remember my parents always bought pink or light blue toilet paper when I was a kid, but it wasn’t until I read your post that I realized that I haven’t seen anything but plain white paper in the stores here for years. Interesting….
    I don’t particularly care what color my paper is, as long as it doesn’t feel like sandpaper… 🙂

    Reply
  27. Trisha Johnson

    Corey,
    I’ve been reading and enjoying your blog for some time now but have never commented. My husband and I are both extreme francophiles and I am now lucky enough to be able to spend 4-6 weeks a year in France for both pleasure and work over the last 12 years.
    The pink toilet paper was one of the FIRST things we noticed and though we have many French friends absolutely no one can tell us why. SO you are not so weird at all to wonder that. After all, pink toilet paper is really ugly and why would you prefer it over white? especially if it clashes with the rest of your bathroom…

    Reply
  28. Elaine L.

    Until I read Susan’s response I didn’t realize that I haven’t paid attention to the color of toilet paper in years, since I always get white, because it’s easier on our septic tank. Growing up, I always wanted pretty colored toilet paper, but we could never buy it because of the septic tank.
    Now, I have to look. She said it doesn’t come in colors. If so, when in the heck did that happen? Where have I been?
    Corey, ITA that is one UUUUUgly bathroom.
    ~elaine~

    Reply
  29. Alison Murray Whittington

    “Part of me took the elevator. The other part who knows.”
    Oh lordy, funny!!!! Good thing I didn’t just sip my beverage.

    Reply
  30. Cynthia Garcia

    Corey
    It’s a great day… there’s this
    overwhelming feeling of optimism
    here in the U.S. and around the
    world
    CYNTHIA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHWByjoQrR8

    Reply
  31. herhimnbryn

    Agh! The music is STILL there, it made me jump out of my skin!!!!!!!
    I think I can equal your ugly bathroom! Ours has a bright yellow sink with a avocado formica surround and floral tiles on the walls and brown tiny tiles on the floor. IT IS HIDEOUS!!!!!!! but like everything here, the renovation is taking years and years.
    Watched the new President on television this morning. I went off to work with a spring in my step……and I live in Oz!

    Reply
  32. M-Noëlle

    To Erin and all
    You won’t find any pink toilet paper here in my house (I’m French though, I swear it !!!)
    Peach or turquoise… or white …
    But that’s true… pink is the common colour.
    An explanation? Maybe because big supplies of toilet paper you can get in our super/hypermarkets are pink. If you want different colours, packages are smaller(smaller, so more expensive).
    Could this be an explanation ????

    Reply

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