Hard water? Try Parisian water.

[ZaiV2]

Some people are fortunate enough to have what's called soft water, which is water without much dissolved in it, to drink and shower with. Others have hard water, which has minerals and such and can cause skin problems for some people. I have hard water. However, during my stay in Paris, France (left last Friday, got back yesterday) I had to shower using their water. This, I discovered, was very, very bad.

I was affected in two ways. The first way was with my hair. I'm very proud of it, having grown it out past my shoulders (and planning to grow it longer) and keeping it shiny, healthy, and soft (my last two girlfriends have claimed that it's of better quality than that of a lot of women). Well, after just one shower in Paris it looked disgusting. Dry, frizzy, limp, and in general substandard. I wasn't using the shampoo and conditioner the hotel provided, either. I brought my own stuff. After my hair dried from my shower this morning using the same stuff, it showed great improvement. Unfortunately, it'll probably take around a week for it to recover.

The second way was my skin. I've been fighting off acne problems since puberty, using many over-the-counter and prescribed treatments over the years but all with the same kind of minimal effect. Recently I've been using two that actually work; for the first time in a long time, I had no acne but what was already well on its way to healing. In Paris, that all changed. The morning of my flight home, as I brushed my teeth, I counted seven new zits across my face and neck. "Who counts the zits on their face?" you might ask. Well, it would be pretty hard not to, considering their severity. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

The water's probably not that bad for all of Paris, but it just might be, considering that they treat their water differently. It definitely wasn't the hotel's plumbing, since I was staying at a rather nice hotel. Still, its effects were very frustrating.

[astuarlen]

But you got to go to Paris. So much art, architecture, and history and stuff. And croissants.

[ZaiV2]

Oh, I'm not saying I didn't like Paris. Paris was great (and the croissants were actually less to my liking than what I can get at a supermarket; there were far better pastries to consume) and I took a lot of pictures, and to be sure I'll never be able to experience a few things like the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, or the cathedral with the amazing stained-glass windows (can't remember the name...). What I am saying is that the water sucks.

[Blitzkommando]

Be glad that the water wasn't like many of the towns I've visted where they have untreated well water. Nothing quite like getting a nice mouth full of sulfur at a water fountain on a hot day. Delicious!

Though, my worst water fountain experience happened in Washington DC, in one of the Smithsonian museums actually. It turns out I had picked the exact moment that they decided to clean the pipes for the building while I was eating in the cafeteria. I had run out of milk and wanted some water. What I got was a blast of white, chalky, disgusting pseudo-water as it did that while I was drinking. So, I know exactly where you are coming from.

[Firocket1690]

Oh? it gets worse, too. you bet.

school takes an annual trip to some foreign country, as part of the curriculum. as of now, we're planned for costa rica. the spanish teacher avoided mexico for the sole purpose of bad water. she claims too many bad tales about mexico's water.

and .. and ...! paris! >_>;; I want to go. <_<

oh, and functional otc acne treatmetn? I lol in your general direction.

[Solstis]

Florida has some pretty bad water, but New Jersey water is... interesting. I think that you could sit under a faucet with a pan and look for gold/mineral deposits.

[Firocket1690]

On 2007-02-25 16:25, Solstis wrote:
Florida has some pretty bad water, but New Jersey water is... interesting. I think that you could sit under a faucet with a pan and look for gold/mineral deposits.

Wait, what?
>_>;;
Shush.

mother gets 5 gallons of poland spring delivered here monthly, so go me.

[Ma_Navu]

Hard water?
Isn't that ice? xP

Anyhow, I'm sure that Floridian water is bad-- Due to the fact that I live in Florida, I know of it's water. Before showering, I leave my accessories on top of the toilet-cap-thing (that big flat part above the handle). Every time I come out of the shower, my accessories are a deeper shade of bronze (Fake! Yaaaay!) and I end up with a big rash on my chest, not because of the ring and glasses, but because of the water.

But still, that can't be as bad as that New Jersey water. "You could sit under a faucet with a pan and look for gold/mineral deposits"? That made me lawl.

[navci]

I guess the upside is that you don't live there. :>
Sucks to be Parisian, I suppose. But hey, if you have nothing to compare it to, you'd not know the difference.

[clynn]

water?what is water? Sounds funnz: w-a-t-e-r.....
...
...
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... You guys mean Vodka right?