Time to do the wash

Generally, I like the idea of a washer and dryer that look simple to use and are gentle on the clothes.  Better, cheap laundry service.  Unfortunately, neither case is the reality in Paris, at least in our little apartment.  I mean there is a small washer, but with an apartment so small and limited window space, laundry would never have the time to dry.  For that reason we have to use a laundromat.

Fortunately, for us, they abound in Paris.  They aren't as abundant as patisseries or tabacs, but they are generally a few in every neighborhood, usually you will walk by one, on your way home.  We walked by a few before we needed to do laundry, when I looked in it looked really, really weird.

I finally decided to go ahead and check the internet for some information on how to use the machines, since the instructions in french were more than a bit intimidating.  When I calmed down and read them, they did make sense, but then I would panic and everything would start blurring out again.  So reading in english via the internet helped tremendously.  First, the machine above is the master of all other machines. It controls when they run.  The way you control it, is money.  You type in the number of the machine you want to use (you should load your clothes and detergent into the machine and close it first) or the product you want to purchase, then you insert the amount requested.  After that the machine starts and works, voila.

So price wise, a small washer costs about 4.55 USD to use, and a dryer about 1.30 USD per 10 minutes.  The small washers are double load washers, generally a week of wash for us could be done for under 20 Euro.  Which isn't bad.  This wouldn't be the place to take clothes for dry cleaning unless you have a little paper stacked up, which we don't right now.  So the laundromat is the way to go.  I try to avoid them on the weekends, just figuring they might get more crowded, but thus far we haven't had problems getting in and out really quick, with only one or two other customers in when we were.