Oh Laundry!
One of the worse fights I had with my daughter
was over laundry! "Do we or Don't we spend our last night in Paris washing
clothes?!!?" That was definitely not on my well planned itinerary.
Over the previous few weeks I had taken my undies into the shower and given
them a bath every other night. She hadn't! I hand washed my drip-dry tops
and slacks every 2 or 3 days in Wool Lite--discretely hanging them out of
site where water drips wouldn't damage room furnishings. She hadn't! One
pair of slacks seem to hold water more than the others. The night they got
their bath, I rolled them in my used towel to absorb the water I couldn't
squeeze out. I then placed a plastic bag under them to
 catch
any water drips if I couldn't hang them in the shower. When seams weren't
dry in the morning, I used my daughter's hair dryer to dry them. In my daybag
I carried a very small bottle of pre-wash--and "Shouted" out mustard and
grass stains as they happened. I didn't need a Laundromat!
Who won that night? We both did! She got clean clothes and I had a night in Paris I'll never forget! We spent two hours in the Paris Laundromat. Got locked out when the doors automatically shut at 10 PM with our clothes half dried--in side. A Parisian customer was still folding inside and laughingly let us two stunned and subdued Americans back in. Mele Fujiwara, TERC Travel Consultant More Laundry Thoughts: Washers in Europe are very small and costly. Dryers are as large as American Laundromat dryers. One way to save time and money, is to hand wash in your room then dry at the Laundromat in an hour or less. As you can see above, I prefer to do a 3-10 minutes worth of hand laundry as I go. It keeps down the number of garments I need to pack and keeps my valuable sight seeing time free. If you decide to use the washers and purchase your laundry powder in the Laundromat, bring in $5-10 worth of coins. If you notice empty containers near the "soap dispenser"--grab it and be ready to catch the soap as it comes out. (Often it arrives loose--not in a little box or bag). I bring along 1 baggie of my own detergent More and more hoteliers are putting up signs saying "No Laundry in Rooms" because past travelers have been inconsiderate with how they have done laundry--letting it drip on wood floors, on antique furniture, etc. This puts pressure on for planning for laundry. Read the practical sections of your guide book for laundry information. You may find places where you can drop it off, have it washed/dryed and even folded while you sight see for about the same price as doing it yourself. Happy Travels, Mele |
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