The French Laundry

This is not a post about the best restaurant in the world which is located in Napa Valley, California.  But oh, I wish it were.  That French Laundry surely isn't the challenge that this French Laundry was.  Please don't misunderstand...this is by no means a complaint post.  But I think dinner in the best restaurant in the world takes the cake over any laundry, period.  And I admit that doing laundry here is requiring a learning curve, and a slightly steeper one than I expected.

One of the many reasons we picked this apartment was that it included a washer/dryer.  Not having seen it though means that we didn't know the washer and dryer are the same unit.  We also didn't know, although we suspected, that the washer/dryer would be lilliputian.

You'd never know a washer that is also a dryer resides behind this fashionable and modern facade

Yet here it is - A washer that is also a Dryer with a Dark Side

Fortunately there is a User's Manual in English as well as these handy dandy pictograms - you can even wash Santa Hats!

After a leisurely morning with freshly brewed coffee and a bowl of cereal, I decided to tackle some laundry.  I had only been here a few days, so I wasn't really in need of anything.  But Ron had been here for a month and had done laundry once at the hotel, so he was in need of getting some laundry done.  Fortunately, the manuals for all of the appliances were handy and fortunately still, the washer/dryer manual had a section in English.  We had purchased some laundry soap and softener the night before so I was all ready to get started.  I created a very small load of clothes - 4 undershirts and a few socks.  I put them in the washer and that pretty much filled it.  Okay.  Small loads.  Very small loads.  So laundry will take longer than I expected.  No problem.  I should have the laundry done by the end of the day.  I followed the instructions in the manual and started the machine.  I was surprised to see that a very small load of lightly soiled clothes would take 1 hour and 35 minutes to wash.  Hm.  Okay.  Small loads.  Very small loads.  Very small loads that take 1 1/2 hours to wash.  No problem.  I should have the laundry done by the end of the weekend.  So the washer starts and all is well.

While the washer is washing we start taking stock of our digs.  Although the apartment is very nice and it looked just like the pictures on the internet, the "well equipped" description was a bit over exaggerated.  We wanted to spend the day getting to know the neighborhood and getting settled in, so we started making lists.  By now you know that we like our lists.  We like neat and orderly and it's really rather satisfying to check things off.  We feel accomplished that way.  So by the time we were ready to hit the streets, 1 1/2 hours had passed and the washer was ready for dryer mode.  Once again I consult the manual, select the appropriate dry cycle and push start.  According to the dryer it is going to take 2 hours to dry this load of clothes.  Hm.  Okay.  Small loads.  Very small loads.  Very small loads that take 1 1/2 hours to wash and 2 hours to dry.  No problem.  I should have the laundry done by next week. So the dryer starts and all is well.

We went out window shopping and looking for places to purchase inexpensive kitchen items.  There's a store called Casa a couple blocks down Rue de la Convention so we checked it out.  It is a diminutive version of Bed, Bath and Beyond!  It was a very nice store and we noted the prices for things and decided to check out the street market on Sunday (tomorrow) before we purchased anything.  There wouldn't be any cooking tonight anyway since we were meeting some folks from Ron's work for dinner.

Next we found two stores a little further up Convention that sold a collection of stuff - mostly housewares at what appeared to be discount prices.  We noted the prices in the first store and still decided to wait until the Sunday market before we purchased anything.  The next store was like Big Lots only a lot smaller and with a lot more stuff packed into the tiny shop.  It was difficult to maneuver, but we perused the shelves and found more housewares for which we noted the prices.  I did happen upon some fabulous stoppered bottles and we decided to buy them.  They are colored glass - pink and purple! - and we will use them for cold water storage in the refrigerator.  Ron also found a tall glass measuring cup - perfect for making my salad dressing, so we bought that too.

Love these bottles!  Water tastes so much better from Pink and Purple.

This is a kitchen essential - the perfect Vinaigrette salad dressing requires one.

We were out window shopping for a couple hours and when we returned to the apartment, I checked on the dryer.  It said it had 0:01 to go.  One more minute and the clothes would be done.  I washed and put away my new treasures and checked on the dryer again.  Hm.  Still 1 minute to go.  It was approaching the time to get ready for our dinner date, so we left the dryer running thinking the sensor must be sensing that the clothes aren't quite dry and it will stop when they are.

We met Ron's co-workers for dinner and we had a nice leisurely evening.  Sorry, no photos of that.  I try not to make people uncomfortable with my camera, so I like to get to know people first and let them decide when or if they'll be comfortable in front of my camera.  But this isn't a post about dinner with coworkers.  It's about the French Laundry and not the French Laundry that is the best restaurant in the world.  What you really need to know about dinner is that we returned from our dinner adventure after having been gone for about 5 hours.  So naturally, the first thing I check on is the dryer.

Surprisingly, the timer said it still had 1 minute to go.  At this point, I'm realizing something isn't quite right with the washer that is also a dryer.  So I start pushing buttons and reading the manual and trying to figure out how to stop the cycle.  Actually, what I was really trying to do was stop the cycle and UNLOCK THE DOOR.  Stopping the cycle wasn't the problem but getting the clothes out was.  Hm.  No luck.  Okay.  Small loads.  Very small loads.  Very small loads that take 1 1/2 hours to wash and 8 or more hours to dry.  No problem.  I should have the laundry done by next month. So the dryer is still running and I decide that surely it will stop sometime during the night and unlock the door and all will be well.

I woke up Sunday morning and immediately checked on the dryer.  Oy.  It still had one minute to go and the door was still locked and the washer that is also a dryer has taken our clothes hostage.  Again I fiddle with the buttons and again I fiddle with the on/off switch and again I scour the manual looking through the troubleshooting guide and desperately searching for a cancel cycle solution.  There isn't one.  I don't know what the dryer wants - an offering of some kind?  Wine?  Bread?  Chocolate?  Surely those are acceptable gifts to the god of Hearth and Home and Washers that are also Dryers.  Of course, I can always just rewash the clothes and skip the dry cycle.

So after attempting to wash and dry a load of clothes, I washed the clothes again and after 30 minutes (I used the shortest cycle possible!), the dryer that was now a washer finally gave up the clothes.  But they're wet clothes and now these clothes that have been in laundering mode for over 24 hours still need to be dried. 

Did I mention the awesome heated towel rack?  The OVER-SIZED awesome heated towel rack?

A modern clothes dryer

Who needs a dryer that takes clothes hostage when you've got an over-sized heated towel rack?  I carefully loaded the wet clothes onto the towel rack (but the picture above is obviously not the 4 undershirts and a few socks that were laundered over a 24 hour period - nope, these clothes were laundered in less than 2 hours!) and with renewed confidence, I added another load of clothes to the washer.