Stacy A Michaelson – Paris: Feb 28, 2007
The Best Paris Story Yet....
2/25/07
Well, I originally forgot to post this in the last blog and then decided that it deserves its own post. But keep in mind this may possibly be the biggest highlight from the week. Also, I apologize in advance for the TMI, but trust me, it’s worth it for the story…
First, remember that in France toilet paper is colored and each color is a varying degree of softness. Normally we have pink, the softest (and it honestly puts anything in the States to shame, Quilted Northern has nothing on pink French TP).
Before going out of town, my host mom stocked the bathroom with quite a bit of paper, but I didn’t really pay much attention to what she had bought. That is, until I was in the bathroom and needed a new roll of TP. I reached for the package she bought and was pretty sure that it didn’t look pink like the rest (but the lighting is weird so I wasn’t positive). I opened it and grabbed a roll that was definitely more of an orange than a pink. “Oh, well…”
Pretty soon, I got a whiff of something that smelled really good. Like peach or mango or something. I was confused…the grandson wasn’t up – so it wasn’t any shampoo smell or anything like that coming from the bathroom (as opposed to the water closet/toilet). You have no idea how confused I was at this point, the smell permeating the room…. I tentatively looked at the roll of toilet paper in my hand; “No. There’s NO way.”…. “Well, it does look orange…” So I gingerly gave it a sniff. And YES! My thoughts very much along the “What the…?” lines and still in disbelief, I grabbed the package to confirm: “Parfumée exotique” – exotic perfumed.
IT’S PERFUMED TOILET PAPER!!
So there I sat, laughing, and putting this at the top of my “things I’ll just accept not understanding in France” list.
I’ve since seen more at the store, and apparently there are a few different scents. I had doubts about whether it was such a good idea to use perfumed products in such a sensitive region, but so far so good… And it does make the whole bathroom smell like peaches/mangos/oranges. I may have to investigate the other scents next time I’m at the store. I’m not sure if they have varying degrees of softness as well, or not. This stuff definitely isn’t as soft as the pink stuff, but maybe it’s worth it for the smell (and the laugh every time I use the bathroom). Seriously, freakin PERFUMED TOILET PAPER…!
Posted by Stacy A Michaelson at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)