>From my (fairly limited) time in France the big difference I noticed
was the French use far less water. In one hotel there was a small tub
and bathing
spray, in another a small shower with an instant heater. I probably
used 1/4 the water that I would here, where most people keep a 60
gallon tank at 125 F degree
hot all day and all night. Efficiency was the norm most of the places
I went in Europe. When European friends come to stay they do marvel at
the hot water - I had (a number of years ago) a young lady friend who
spent a good 30 minutes in the shower every morning with the water on
HOT. She always emerged pink and dreamy. I always suspected her
attraction was not so much for me, but for my water boiler.
Of course now I am plotting how to rid myself of the boiler and go
solar.
Frantz DESPREZ wrote:
Hakan Falk a écrit :
Tom,
Do not worry, it must be other developed countries than US, this
because US is using more gasoline than water. Cannot be the
French either, since I saw some statistics that they only shower
once every two weeks and that was the immigrants, according
to a French guy I know. It is no sure numbers on how often the
real French shower. They have however the best perfumes on
the market.
I feel a bit guilty here, because it is the Swedes who are using
more water than gasoline and they shower several times a week.
A very wasteful people, the Swedes, and they have a lot of water
also. They should be ashamed to use so little oil, according to
a well known oil company, who threatened to stop delivering oil.
Hakan
Hakan,
I feel concerned as a french. I must try to find out explanations to
save the honor of my team ;-)
During the 50's, french were considered as dirty people because of their
very low consuption of soaps and toothbrushes, and a very low rate of
modern bathroom equipment. And obviously, it's true that a very short
part of appartments and houses were equiped with WC or showers. That
even doesn't mean that people were dirty : my grand parents told me how
they used to wash with [the famous french] wet gloves and basins twice a
day. Ask 1/3 world people how heavy is water when you have to carry it
for km or bring it at the 5th floor. An active policy of public aids for
years helped France to stick at the european average. Now we can waste
good water like our developped friends.
During the 90's, new statistics showed that the average french used more
soap than the average brittish. Proudness.
But I also read that the statistics were based on different parameters.
A panel of few citizens or samples in a hand , and the total amount of
soap or water sold divided but population in the other. And in rural
areas of France, we often have wells. Water is free and not counted.
Only people who uses "l'eau de la ville" (= city water, the drinkable
water with good bleach taste...) pay the pollution tax (included in the
water bill). And water is not only used in the bathroom.
I supposed that depends on national habits. For teeth washing, and know
only very few people with their natural teeth. They probably didn't care
as we do when they were young, and when get a plastic smile, they kept
on to not use much water and toothbrushes... The delicious garlic
fragrance of old french breathes may be not came of the vegetable ?
About perfumes, the french fame came from king Louis XIV, who had very
smart water pieces in his gardens of Versailles palace, but any bathroom
or toilets in buildings. Courtisans were supposed to do their needs in
pots or on the floor behind curtains. So what we call the "Louis XIV
method" is to use cosmetics and perfumes to hide the odors from lack of
bodycare. And I guess that the perfumes had to be efficient :-|)
More seriously, Swedes have a great luck to have big water ressources.
In some parts of France, southern Europe and elsewhere worldwide,
droughtness is severe. Spain or Brasil plans to do as California to
change river ways. Water is one of the main real reasons of the war
between palestinians and Israelians.
At home, one of my 2 wells is dry since July and our pond is completly
dry for the first time in 52 years. Newspaper are speaking of less than
one month of drinkable water stocks in central western France. We can
survive without oil, not without water.
Frantz
(one shower a day)
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