Bodily functions

One of the hard things about dragging a small person(s) around with you is working out how to manage a toilet stop.  When I've got the pushchair with me, I don't really fancy leaving my most precious jewels in the middle of the Ladies whilst I disappear into a stall.  And if the baby is being carried at the time, it's a balancing feat that is beyond me.  

So imagine my glee to discover that Printemps (a big Parisian department store) offers a mother and baby room within their homeware store.  It's not marked on the shop signs that I could find, so I asked a salesperson who then phoned around to find out where it was - not looking very promising, eh.  Once I'd shouldered my way into a lift, elbowing aside indolent teenagers who could have used the escalator, and running over several feet, I marched around the entire floor several times looking for either the room itself or a sign.  Again, no luck, so I tackled a sales assistant who explained that the room is locked (!) and let me in.  Two table-top changing mats, a bottle warmer and a couple of chairs constituted the offering, which is great if all you need to do is feed/change the baby.  To give them their dues, the room was clean and with a great view of Paris, but it was so much less than it could have been - a sort of oversized stock cupboard with a curtain hiding some empty boxes and old stock. 

Another lift ride later I found what appears to be the only customer toilets in the store, a 'concept' bathroom charing you a euro to spend a penny.  Granted, it was clean and had funky toilet paper, and the cubicle was big enough to bring Little Son in with me.  But I was so exhausted by the whole experience that I then left without shopping.