Little pony

©  2009  Rose George

Though you cannot find one for love nor money these days in France, bidets are nonetheless feted, à la française ie most intellectually, in a book by Julia Csergo and Roger-Henri Guerrand. Using the rather odd heading of “Le secret de l’élégance française,” Le Monde reports that Csergo and Guerrand’s 1997 book – “Le Confident des dames. Le bidet du XVIII^e au XX^e siècle” – has been reprinted. Some bidet snippets: it was invented before the 18th century, certainly, but the word bidet (”little horse”) was first noted in 1730. It has always had a tricky history, not least because society at the time considered that “washing oneself with water damages the eyesight, brings on toothache and turns your face pale.” Eventually the bidet became popular, being a means for women to wash themselves without undressing – hence the bidet’s nickname “the lady’s confessor” – though that was then. Tell that to M. Bricolage at Carcassonne, where they no longer know what a bidet is.