The washer here is small, and this is a weeks worth of clothes (about a pillow case worth).. So I needed something bigger. I knew where a Laundromat was, or so I thought.. So I packed all of our clothes and took off (Court stayed behind to unpack her stuff)
To start with, I got lost. I eventually figured out where I was though, and found "Club Lav" or whatever the name of the place is..
There are a lot of numbered (and small) washers there.. Nowhere to put Euro or get soap, and a box on the wall with French instructions. Usually, I try to ask someone with my limited french for help, but I was stuck. I saw a guy in there with a map of Paris in his back pocket and I said "Parlez Vous Anglais?" He replied "It's my native language!"
Bravo!
He had just figured out how to do it. You put the clothes in the washer first, then go to the machine and type the washer number, then pay. then type the number for the soap dispenser, get soap, and put it in.
Not bad. I had to use a big washer ( a small washer equivalent in the US) and I entered the number.
8 euro. Thats like 10$ for a load. PLUS, another euro for soap!!!
I figured I had no alternative so I paid and waited. A half hour went by and the cycle stopped. I put everything in a dryer and repeated the steps before.
Oh sweet! Only 1 euro to dry!!! I figured this was to offset the cost of washing. Nope. I watch my clothes tumble, then 10 minutes later STOP. Still soaking wet. I guess its 1 euro per 10 minutes of dry time.
At the end of the day (2 hours) I had spent 12 Euro to come home with a small bag of clean (yet still damp) clothing!!
I find it ironic that if I had been hit by a car on the WAY to the laundromat, my medical bills would have probably been covered my the govt. However, if I simply want clean clothes, I'm out a 20!
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