This weekly column is produced by Jean-Marie Gazagne.
In April 1899, the Touring Club de France magazine published an article concerning toilets in hotels in the Gorges du Tarn. It was Paul Arnal, founder of the Cévennes Club, who collected practical information for the future tourist guide intended for potential travelers.
He made observations concerning the presence or absence of toilets in hotels. In Sainte-Énimie, he noted that the Malaval hotel and the Bruno hotel were not equipped with this element of comfort. He learned that ten years previously, an English tourist staying at the Malaval Hotel had experienced a strange misadventure.
“Dreaming” on the banks of the Tarn
In the evening, after dinner, he asked for the toilet. He was given a candlestick and told to go.dream” on the banks of the Tarn. The client found this suggestion bad and resolved to take revenge. So he said to the boss: “JI will send you my news.” Mr. Malaval, intrigued and a little worried, waited.
A month later, a zinc worker from Rodez showed up to install, at English expense, a toilet in the premises of the hotel annex. The work was finished on Saturday and news of this installation spread throughout the village.
Association Touring Club de France and Cévennes Club
The next day was the votive festival and all day long the curious rushed to see this “machine extraordinaire”. This is how everyone wanted to make the seesaw and the toilet flush work.
Some time later, the English toilet did not resist. The installation had to be changed. The Touring Club of France and the Cévennes Club joined forces to install more resistant equipment.
It was the Touring Club of France which had the hygienic toilets manufactured, packaged and transported and the Cévennes Club took care of the installation costs. This is how most of the hotels in the Tarn gorges were finally equipped with correct sanitary facilities.
France
