By bevvy2212
I am proud to say that after being in France for 51 days, I have finally successfully done my own laundry…. Sad, really. (I am not an un-hygienic person, it’s just the previous times, my roommate did it for me, so this time, it was my turn.)
Two things that I have learned in life thus far regarding laundry services is 1) Don’t complain. 2) Don’t tempt fate. Back in high school, I complained about spending a dollar, think about it, a whole dollar, on washing and drying. So I waved my fist angrily at fate, I dare you to give me worse laundry conditions. And fate promptly gave me college, where I now have to spend three dollars on washing and drying. Again, I thought to myself, watch me tempt fate, because it can’t get worse than this. (Mind you, I said it in a sarcastic tone, so it shouldn't count.) But fate did not disappoint, it sent me to a public Laundromat.
To be clear, I’m a selective germaphobe. I might be messy sometimes but when it comes to germs lathered on the clothes that’s touching my skin? Unacceptable. Which was why I put off doing laundry for a while because hey, at least it’s my own germs, not the germs of the entire Paris city being swished around in a washing machine. But eventually I caved, hence the outcome of this post.
I took a suitcase to the Laundromat while dressed like a hobo, because I had absolutely nothing else to wear and a toga would be too scandalous. Laundry here is expensive! Depending how much clothes you have, you select the washing machine ranging from 3kg to over 10kg, and they differ in prices. First you put your clothes in. Then you remember the number of your machine and go over to the paying machine. You key in your number, and it will tell you how much to pay. You pay, then you return to the washing machine, flip open the lid on top and pour detergent into the little containers. Start the machine and voila. It might look simple but to be honest, it took me a while to get everything going, especially since when everything was in French. 60k education per year and can’t properly operate in a Laundromat, Greeaat.
The wait took about 40 minutes. I just took some work with me and sat around inside the Laundromat because I was too lazy to go back to my studio. The drying cycle actually took a lot less time than back at GW. It was one euro per cycle and the wait was 20 minutes. So after spending 8 euros and fumbling around like a fool, I now have clean clothes. Fresh like a bunny.