Ladies and Gentlemen,
what you see before you is a Chaise Anglaise, freshly installed and functioning in one of the eleven bathrooms in Hotel Djenné Djenno. Never did I think that such a prosaic object could produce such joy in me.
I am not quite sure why the French call it an English chair. Perhaps because until quite recently the French used the oriental or African method and it is in fact still possible to find the sqatting down version in old French cafés. Rather a good idea really, and the oriental and African method of using water rather than loo paper is really much more satisfactory. However, there will of course be loo paper as well as water in Hotel Djenné Djenno, and it is hoped that the Chaises Anglaises will be of service not only to English, but a selection of Malian as well as international derrières.