When it comes to public toilets, it isn’t necessarily the look of the loo that matters most. Stuff like privacy, cleanliness and practicality are all a little more important when it comes to, erm, relieving yourself in public.
But a nice-looking public loo never goes amiss – and they don’t get much fancier than the Lavatory de la Madeleine in Paris. Featuring stained-glass windows, pretty ceramics and mosaics, brass taps and varnished wood furnishings, the Madeleine opened in 1905 and is a magnificent (or should we say magnifique) example of belle époque style.
Having been closed since 2011 due to lack of use, the Lavatory de la Madeleine has now reopened. And it looks bloomin’ marvellous. Here are a few pics of the place.
Pretty snazzy, but doing your business here comes with a price tag. Use of the Lavatory de la Madeleine costs a whopping €2 ($1.80, $2.10), which is a heck of a lot for a public toilet. But it does also double up as a cultural wonder – so it might be better to think of that €2 as contributing to a sort of museum entry, too.
If you’d like to visit the Lavatory de la Madeleine, you’ll find it at the base of the nineteenth-century church La Madeleine in the eighth arrondissement. The nearest metro station is Madeleine, which is on lines 8, 12, and 14.
Paris isn’t the only city to boast some dazzling public loos. The government of Tokyo’s Shibuya ward recently got together with a bunch of all-star architects to design some brand-new public toilets in Shibuya. The results are pretty dazzling.
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