Elton John Pees in Plastic Bottle at Store in France, Owner Claims

Ryan Sukkar, owner of Sugarkikz in Nice, tells TMZ … Elton came into his shop Monday afternoon with his 2 sons and a bodyguard and asked if there was a public restroom.

When Elton was told there wasn’t a toilet around, the shop owner says the singer turned to his security and asked for a bottle … then took a few steps away from other shoppers and began taking a leak in the receptacle.

Sounds like Elton’s got poor aim … we’re told he got some pee on the floor and asked his security for a towel to clean up the mess.

The shop owner says he was “shocked and frustrated” a customer would take a tinkle like that … and this was a first in his 3 years running the business.

Seems Elton really had Ryan’s head spinning … he says he had no idea who EJ was when this was all going down, and when he asked Elton what he did for a living, the singer simply responded, “I’m Elton John.” Classic Elton, really.

Ryan says he did a quick search online, and that’s when he realized this was a huge deal. In the end, we’re told Elton bought 2 pairs of sneakers for his sons, snapped a picture for the store and shook hands with Ryan before leaving.

No word if he used his “pee hand” during the salutation, but there was no mention of the pee-pee incident.

And Ryan clearly wasn’t crying over spilled urine, because he tells us … overall, Elton was very cool.