iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Piss-Poor In Lutetia Parisiorum ~ |
Tweet
Pissing in public in Paris has a long and venerable history.
The famous French pissoirs were named vespasiennes after probably the world's most famous pee taxer, the Emperor Vespasian, from 2000 years ago. They even did it then, can you imagine?
Vespasian's son, apparently, was revolted by the filthy origins of the money thus extracted, to which his father replied "pecunia non olet", or money doesn't smell. Although if it was demanded just after the pisser in question had used the service... well anyway.
Today's Paris is a curious mixture of shiny pee-pods and smelly corners, the former closing just around the time people stagger home (10pm), if they're working at all, thus defeating their purpose somewhat.
I'm pretty ambivalent about them; often enough I've been dying to go and upon reaching that panacea of peedom it has been working and free that I'm not going to slag them off or write one of those funny stories about searching for one in vain.
That said, I have also searched for one in vain and, dare I say this... been guilty of the other, less official method of bladdatorial relief. Well, what can you do? What do women do, for that matter? Are they really from a different planet? Venusians must be different like that I guess. Or maybe they just drink less. I'll have to try that sometime.
___________________________________________________________________________________
© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment