Ah French toilets, my old nemesis...

I’ll never forget the first time I encountered, in a fairly chic Parisian bar, a squat toilet.  Horrified, I waited another hour and a very squashed taxi ride (when the other passengers were probably more afraid than me!) before I could actually go.

A real old fashioned squat toilet is pretty rare now in Paris and most restaurants, bars, cafes, museums etc. will have facilities that are pretty much the same standard as in London.

I tend to go for the cafe visit whenever I am caught short, as there is definitely no shortage of these in Paris!  Luckily this means you are never too far from from a loo, even if it is dingy and smelly - but it might cost you a round of drinks, and with coffees now hitting €4-5, this made one of our urgent toilet stops a staggering €14 - but we were near to the Eiffel Tower and my niece suddenly needed to go.  I personally wouldn’t even try the public toilets at the Eiffel Tower even if there are any because of the number of tourists and the aggressive hawkers in this area.

For a modern art toilet experience I recommend PointWC (€1.5-2 per person) at the Carrousel du Louvre, where you are escorted to a uniquely decorated “cabin” and your hostess will ensure the state is tip top.  They also do a nice range in toilet accessories including novelty loo roll (although I am not sure about the black!)  They also have mother and baby cubicles, can provide assistance to disabled customers and offer a “spa” experience too.  (And they sell a feminine hygiene pack, although there is certainly no shortage of chemists in Paris.)

Another useful, although not free, loo spot is at the west entrance to the Tuileries.  It’s €0.5 each, there’s a hostess who checks the cubicle and red lights above the door to show which one’s free.  However they might check it’s clean, but it can still be stinky!

If, like me, you choose your pit stops based on clean toilets I also recommend Fauchon near the Madeleine.

And one more for the uniqueness factor - did you know that not only can you climb the Arc de Triomphe but there is also a loo at the top!  If there hadn’t been a queue I would have gone just to say that I’d weed on the Arc de Triomphe!