Marcel Proust once likened the woman who supervised a grand Paris public lavatory to, “A marquise in her salon, opening the little stalls and speaking with the customers,” reports The Times.
Proust’s “dame-pipi”, a small character in Remembrance of Things Past, has gone from her premises on the Champs Elysées, but nostalgists can relive the Belle Époque sanitary experience with the reopening nearby of the oldest Paris public convenience.
Le Lavatory de la Madeleine opened in 1905 at the foot of the Madeleine church, inspired by the late Victorian public WCs of London. It has been restored in all its varnished mahogany and porcelain glory after 12 years of closure.
The modern version of Proust’s “dame-pipi”, is called the “hôtesse d’accueil” [reception hostess]. From her lodge, she surveys visitors who descend the steps and pay two euros to enter the men’s and women’s stalls for relief amid the Art Nouveau stained glass, mosaics, and ceramics.
The historic dame-pipi lodge has been restored as well as the shoe-shine stand. Each cubicle has a mirror and sink.