The other day while walking the streets of Paris with my class, we came across several fountains that provided free, clean water to the public. Now, being from America, we are used to seeing public water fountains, but mostly inside and next to bathrooms. It is very uncommon to see them out in the open, and they’re not nearly as pretty. Which brings me to the topic at hand: how pretty water fountains are here compared to back at home. I’m sure we’re all used to the basic, industrial looking fountains you see in schools, malls, offices, etc. There’s a spout from which water comes out, and sometimes if you’re lucky it has a water bottle refiller on the side of it. You know, the kind where you don’t have to tip the bottle at an angle to get it from the spout and can actually fill the whole bottle instead of having it only filled 3/4 of the way? That was revolutionary when they installed that back in high school.
But these water fountains, however, were ornate and beautiful, and the water flowed from the top instead of the bottom, meaning you could easily fill a water bottle. This design also left no freestanding water in a tray, meaning it was always safe to drink, and since it flowed continuously you knew it was always available. I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked up to an industrial style water fountain really thirsty, only to find it was broken as soon as I tried to push the sides.
They are also everywhere in Paris. This photo, in particular, was taken near the Marché aux Fleurs, the oldest flower market in Paris. There was another at Shakespeare and Company but the crowd was too large to get a good photo. The only downside I can see to this design is that someone (me at the time, actually) who doesn’t already have a water bottle, can’t fully enjoy this. I was only really able to wet my hands and cool myself down, but I was not about to cup my hands and stand there like an idiot for 5 minutes.
Though we will most likely never see everyday objects this ornate back home, it is important to appreciate it’s beauty now and remember that in Paris, everything is pretty…even the water fountains.
I love that something as simple and necessary as a water fountain, can also be art. The little things like this add up to create a unique experience in this city for sure. I think Smith said that there were 100 fountains like this around Paris, but to me that doesn’t seem like that much considering how big the city was and that when she first told us this, there were 3 in the vicinity. I wonder if they consider putting more up or if it’s been around 100 for many years.
These water fountains are so pretty. It is also great that people cannot put their mouths on the spouts. From what I have seen, it looks like the ones pictured are clustered in the center of the city. It seems that as you move into the outer rings of the city the presence of these fountains seems to decrease.