bidette and toilets

Anyone out there know how to use a bidette and why? There is one next to our toilet. It is like a toilet, only it has hot/cold water faucet and can be closed like a sink. It is pretty standard fair in Italian homes. I am wonder if you sit on it facing the faucet?

My friend Bill says I should try the variations and assume what feels good is the right way. Bill said he saw a program on NPR about wet and dry toilet paper. Would a bidette be considered wet "toilet paper?" We don't know.

Toilets can have a push button on the wall or top or side of tank. Some still have a tank above the toilet with a string to flush.

CAUTION! We learned at the Lidl that the pull cord is an emergency cord, not a flush.