Still Sweltering In Paris Heat Wave

Paris has been baking hot this summer!  This summer long heat wave hasn’t left yet! In the almost 20 years of living here, this has never happened!

Paris is not equipped to handle this heat!  I’m talking about summertime being consistently hot, which just doesn’t happen here!

Sure, there are always a few really hot days in the summer months, but they have been generally offset by spells of cooler ones in between.

In fact, I have often felt cheated of having a real “summer” in Paris.  There are many memories of having to wear a sweater on some cold days in June or July.

Not this exceptional summer!  Temperature records have been breaking throughout France, Spain, and Portugal.

Even Scandinavia and parts within the arctic circle were up to 91 degrees F! Climate change being upon us is; this is what it looks like here.

For the first time since 1893, harvesting of the Champagnes grapes will begin in mid-August, whereas they have been picked in the past at the end of September or early October.

The French call a heat wave a “cannicule”, from the Latin word derivative meaning dog. This is because the ancients notice the rising of the dog star Sirius in the dog constellation between July 22 and August 23.

I generally take the heat quite well.   Afterall I was born into the hot Louisiana sun in August under Canis Major and maybe that is why I also adore doggies.

But, there was a  big difference, that makes summer heat extremes tolerable.  Every place in America is over-airconditioned to the hilt.  Not so here in Paris at all!

Very few apartments are airconditioned. The vast majority of summers spent here, I never really missed having one, as the hot days were few, and my building, like most others here, are very well insulated.

My wall to wall windows face southeast so I get the first rays of sunshine till about 2 pm.  If I faced the western sky, the inside temperature would be worse!

Transports in Paris are sadly lacking being airconditioned, which is a shame considering that the city is the most touristed visited city in the entire world!

Only a few of the 316 buses are airconditioned. I generally prefer to take buses over the metro, but given the two, the metro can be cooler if not crowded, which it usually is.

Trams that partially circulate around the periphery of the city are, and only 4 lines of the subway and another one partially.

I was rather surprised to see Budapest has its subway and buses airconditioned and is a much less city of wealth.

When confronted with this deplorable situation, the minister of transport stated “more studies will have to be done” which translates as not anytime soon if at all.

As if trying to assuage the situation, she pointed out that several subway lines were recently enabled to have an “increased flow of tunnel air”, which may be a tad cooler, but is nevertheless warm.

Several hospitals have only the operating and recovery rooms airconditioned.  Post offices are not, and neither are many government buildings.

Department stores are, but only lightly. Certainly not all restaurants either.

If you want to really cool off, head to the large supermarket chains and hang around the open food coolers.  The rest of the supermarket won’t be as cold.

This past weekend I saw an older couple literally standing in front of a closed cool case with the doors wide open, not even pretending to select an article.

I too enjoy vicariously hanging around the open cool cases, especially at Monoprix, which they don’t seem to skimp on air conditioning like the majority of stores here.

I use to find it funny seeing women fanning themselves here at temperatures that I considered only slightly hot, not sweltering by any means.

Lately, I have wished to have had one myself! Fortunately, there is usually a breeze and if you walk on the shady side of the street. it is tolerable.

I just read today that fans are now in short supply, which is not surprising given that replacing inventory in any store takes a back seat in August when the practically the whole city goes on vacation.

My local Franprix which is the only store that carries my personal beverage of choice, was near depletion last Saturday of most bottled water.

Paris tap water is excellent to drink, but during the summer months, I prefer a very mineralized sparkling water called La Francaise from a spring in the south.

Advertised as the water with a “strong personality like a French woman” it is chock full of magnesian and calcium, plus a host of other mineral salts that I am sure of losing in this heat.

Sweating and evaporation are my means of cooling these days directly in front of a fan when inside.

Nights, of course, are the worse, despite a pretty strong fan and all windows opened.   I now place two bottles of frozen water in front of the fan, which I think provides more of a psychological benefit than an actual one.

Getting up to periodically wet my skin and a meager T-shirt does help in cooling, but not in sleeping.

Since 2003, when Paris had another bad heat wave and there were several deaths the city has boosted up efforts to prevent mortality during these times.

They now have a map fo the city listing where you can “cool off”.  Besides the shady parks, there are some misters, and vertical fountain sprays.

There are also some”cooling off rooms”  in some of the town halls and the huge churches.

If you have walked into any big stone church here in the summer heat, you would immediately notice how cool they feel from the outside temperature.

If you prefer to sleep in the great outdoors,  the city has opened the parks during the night for outdoor sleeping.

There are reminders on the buses and metro to drink water, which I find rather comical as if people didn’t know to do so.

Oh well, this too shall pass, and I will find myself complaining about the frigid cold winter to come.

At least the majority of the winemakers are counting on a fabulous year and my dwarf banana tree and miniature eggplants growing on the balcony love it!

For the moment though, I am hot and getting hotter despite my fan. My old trusty Macpro laptop is already too hot and really folks, what more can I say about such a banal subject like the weather!

 

P.S. If next summer turns out like this one, I’m getting some sort of airconditioning!