Surviving Horrific Heatwaves in Paris

It is plainly too hot to write, period.  It is also too hot to want to do anything!   So, why am I writing this?

Feeling caged in by the heat,  I decided I might as well write about it. Early morning walks to supermarkets are my only outings right now.

Surviving another day of being confined by the heat and very uncomfortable is all I can muster.

I feel like a wilted lettuce leaf, lethargic and weakened by the whole ordeal.  I think of all the unfortunate souls who have to work outside or live in blistering climates that have no means to cool off.  Ditto for those who sweltered through summer days in the Deep South before AC.

Constantly looking at the weather app has become an obsession. Perhaps tomorrow might be a degree cooler or hotter than predicted.

My whole current existence is focused on keeping my little apartment from getting hotter and myself reasonably “cool” enough, a real challenge.

It faces southeast and is flooded with glorious sunlight that pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows to the balcony.

What is great in the winter is a curse in recent summers. I have been here since the beginning of 2000, and can testify to the increasingly hot summers.

There were times that I used to complain that I felt “robbed’ of warm summer days.  I remember having to wear an occasional sweater in July and that even late August and first days of September could bring cool weather.  Not anymore.

Once again, old Europe has been caught off guard by these horrific heat waves with old-fashioned ways of coping.

Their old rhetoric of “stay inside, drink plenty of fluids and avoid strenuous activities during the day” doesn’t cut it anymore.

Closing shutters during the day and cooling your place with fresh night air only really helps if night temperatures are low enough.  Recently, they are not.

Disruption of daily life continues.  TGV trains have been cancelled because of heat-deformed rails.  School closings and exit exams postponed.  Enraged parents were refusing to allow their children to attend classes in sweltering classrooms.

The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Tour Eiffel have had early closings.

I read about El Nino predictions for Europe back in March. Why didn’t governmental agencies start implementing changes then?

The cog wheel of change doesn’t even get going here until there are studies upon studies.  It is not just France, but all of  Europe.

Southern parts of Italy, Spain, Portugal and especially Greece have adopted air conditioning more than northern Europe.

Only about 28% of French households have AC, mostly in the south.  10% to 20% in Germany.  Parisian apartments, maybe a pitiful 5 to 6 %!

Part of the reluctance to use air conditioning has been old wives’ tales and myths that air conditioning is bad for your health.

So far, there have been 2000 plus heat related deaths in France, 6,800 in Germany, 2,700 in Italy, 1,028 in Spain and 2,700 in the UK  this summer. In France, 142 drownings from thermal shock.

Drinking cold drinks with ice cubes was also frowned upon!  I remember being shocked by these old-fashioned beliefs during my student days here.

Older people around here are still apt to tell you that drinking warm tea to cool down is better than cold drinks, because cold drinks cause the body to heat up more.

True, decades ago, Europe didn’t really feel a need for air conditioning.   The focus was more on protecting your dwelling from the pervasive winter cold.

Paris went on a demand that all apartment buildings should undergo thermal insulating protection.

My building did, but what may be good at retaining indoor heat in winter can also increase the misery of heat retention in summer.

I don’t use those electric aluminium window coverings, which makes the room as dark as a cave and I don’t think are that effective.

Thermal curtains on Amazon in the colour and length I needed were sold out. I certainly wasn’t going to be traipsing around searing Paris to look for some, so I had to resort to good old ingenuity.

Old sheets to the rescue again!  In desperation, I stretched a torn sheet to cover the glass windows and doors in my salon.  A clothespin attaches one end to a hanging planter and the other end is scotch-taped.

This unsightly jerry-rigged curtain looks like something out of Tobacco Road, but it does the trick!

Urban laws to protect the facades of Parisian buildings from unsightly exterior AC units have kept many Parisian apartment owners unable to even consider air conditioning.

If you have a high balcony, like I fortunately do, you possibly have a chance of requesting permission to place an outdoor unit there.

You must make a formal written petition. This entails outlining in detail your AC project that is sent out to other owners to be voted on at the annuel owners’ meeting.

Good news is that I was recently granted authorisation on June 1 to have one installed on the floor of my balcony!  I had to supply all the technical details regarding decibel levels, vibration protection and of course make sure it is not visible to surrounding buildings nor from the avenue.

The bad news is that trying to find available installers in June during the current heat wave is impossible.

Portable air conditioners are sold out.  These are not window units, but box like machines with an extending tube that must be placed outside to expel hot air.

Even a few stores down the avenue continue to use these.  I doubt this men’s store has any clients willing to try on clothes in this heat!

Fortunately, I bought a portable one 3 or 4 years ago.  Pushing it to and from my bedroom and living room and getting the tube out French doors is a real chore.

I had to drill a rough hole in my living room door to the balcony.  Not wanting to do the same in the bedroom, I resorted to a fabric contraption to close off the space between doors held up with sticky Velcro tape that melted off last year.

This summer, I used an old sheet as a barrier, and frankly I don’t see that much difference.  I now use it only for my bedroom, a few hours at night, as it recently developed a death rattle after running over 4 hours.

In addition to cool showers, the best way I have found to stay comfortable without AC is draping wet cloths over bare skin, in front of a fan.  Tucking ends in the groin creases to cool the femorals and around neck for the carotids works. Plus it feels great as the cloth slowly evaporates, which does not take long in this heat.

Maybe this year’s unrelenting heat waves are a blessing in disguise if the unbearable hot temps have brought the populace and government to action!

I am now hearing politicians voice the need for air conditioning, changing urban laws, and even a few proposals for monetary help.

I have resigned to another summer without real air conditioning, as it is too late to find available installers.  I will just have to tough it out. It could be worse.  Tomorrow, lower temps are expected, thank God!