Paris a une nouvelle attraction touristique... Les toilettes rénovées de La Madeleine / Restored Paris art deco public loo worth every penny of €2 charge

Restored Paris art deco public loo worth every penny of €2 charge

 

Lavatory de la Madeleine, opened in 1905, has been closed for 12 years but has been renovated to full belle époque glory

 

Kim Willsher in Paris

Sat 18 Feb 2023 05.00 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/18/restored-paris-art-deco-public-loo-worth-every-penny-of-2-charge

 

Paris authorities promise it will be worth every penny spent renovating France’s first ever public convenience.

 

The Lavatory de la Madeleine, a belle époque jewel that opened in 1905, will cost €2 (£1.80) to use when it reopens on Monday.

 

It was fitted out in art deco style with the finest materials: varnished mahogany woodwork, stained-glass windows, ornate ceramics, mosaics, brass taps and floor to ceiling tiles and has been listed as a historic building since 2011 when it closed.

 

It was originally an exclusively ladies’ lavatory – the nearby gents’ constructed at the same time is now used by the public transport body RATP – but became mixed sex when several of the cabins were turned into urinals in the 1990s.

 

The lavatory, shut because of disuse and lack of maintenance, has taken 12 years to restore. The restoration of the woodwork, glass and tiles were finally completed last month but the toilets, sinks and taps have been replaced with similar modern models. An old shoe-shine chair, preserved on the site, adds to the impression of entering a grand “throne room”.

 

The idea of a public lavatory was inspired by those in London introduced in the 1880s. The underground facilities were intended to be not only useful but beautiful and luxurious. Only six such toilets still exist in Paris, one of which is on the Champs-Élysées.

 

“It’s a journey back in time; a dive into the Paris of the belle époque,” Karine Taïeb, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of heritage, said as she conducted a party of journalists around the conveniences this week. She said regrettably the toilets were not accessible to disabled people because they were too small.

 

The mosaic tiled entrance to the lavatory is still cracked and will undergo further restoration next year when the cause of the damage has been identified.

 

The Lavatory de la Madeleine will reopen to the public on Monday and remain open between 10am and 6pm every day. The €2 charge is to cover the cost of an attendant and cleaning. Paris city hall says there are 435 other free public toilets in the city.