Our summers in Paris: the book

In what may become the first step in turning this journal into a book, I have started making PDFs of all previous years' journals, going back to 2000.  (The first two years, 1998 and 1999 were written by hand on paper.)

This morning, I finished making the PDFs for August 2003.  This took time, because I had to re-read each one for that particularly unusual month.  In August 2003, a deadly heat wave plagued Paris for a couple weeks.  The aftermath of the heat wave dragged on for a couple more weeks.  In my journal, I chronicled the experience.  I, and others in France, became aware of the disastrous death toll gradually.  Every few days the estimates would rise, significantly.  By the end of that month's journal on August 23rd, I thought the final figure was about 13,000.  In reality, by the end of August, the official heat-wave-related death toll in France was over 15,000.

The Eiffel Tower after the heat wave of 2003 ended.

The air pollution during that 2003 heat wave was horrific.  This pollution damaged my health, and it affected Tom's as well.  Surviving that entire heat wave without air conditioning was not easy.

The heat this summer has been much easier to tolerate, because it has come in smatterings of a day or two here, and three or four days there.  While the air pollution levels have been elevated on some of these days, they have been nothing like the poisonous, visible smog of 2003.

In 2003, I reported on the finger-pointing by French officials who were trying to assign blame for the poor response of the health care system and social services.  Since then, many changes have been made to make certain that poor response will not be repeated.  Since then, the air has become cleaner.  Since then, the apartment where we stay has awnings, more fans, and new, double-glazed windows/french doors.

So on days like today, when the temperature is predicted to be 92 degrees F, the bad ozone level will be merely "elevated," but not extremely dangerous.  We can manage to keep the apartment at least 10 degrees cooler than the high temp for the day, even with its southern exposure.  Rain is predicted for the late evening, and then both temperatures and bad ozone levels will fall.

If you want to read about that historic heat wave of 2003, to get an idea of what it was like, my journal for those dog days is still online at these links:

b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-8.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-9.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-13.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-15.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-19.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-21.htm
b2cool.tripod.com/paris03/8-23.htm

So yes, I am thinking of writing a book, Our Summers in Paris.  Would you like to read it?

Eiffel Tower and Seine in the air pollution during the heat wave of August 2003.

The métro is cookin'

"Heat Wave:  In the Paris Subway Oven" was the exaggerated headline in the popular tabloid Le Parisien two days ago (Canicule: dans la fournaise du métro parisien).  

As I read the article yesterday, I realized that this hot subway situation is probably one of the reasons why there is such a crowd of people walking to work on the Rue du Commerce in the morning.  Line 8 -- which goes straight up the Avenue Félix Faure and the Rue du Commerce -- of the métro must be very uncomfortably warm and stuffy.

View from the Port de Suffren walkway between the Eiffel Tower and the Pont de Bir Hakeim.

Miraculously, I have not been on the métro even once yet this summer.  I've been walking instead. Tom had a couple of métro rides after walking with Dan on a couple of evenings.  He didn't complain, but he was on Lines 4 and 10.  Le Parisien reports that the hottest lines are 6 and 4.  

Much of line 6 is not a subway; rather, it is an elevated train.  Because there are fewer underground stations (like caves, with slightly cooler air) and no air conditioning units on this line, it is darned hot.  Le Parisien's reporters took a digital thermometer around with them to check the temps.  On Tuesday afternoon, when it was 88 degrees outside, it was 92 degrees inside the Line 6 train.

Tiny playground and café tucked in the Champ de Mars.

That sounds bad, but at the same time, the humidity was only 45% in the train.  To a South Floridian, that doesn't sound all that horrible.

So far, in what Parisiens have been calling a heat wave, we haven't been too uncomfortable because we have avoided walking in the heat of the afternoon, we've trapped the cooler night-time and early morning air in the apartment, and we've avoided being trapped ourselves in restaurants in the warmer evenings.  Even restaurants that have air conditioning do not use it, or it doesn't work very well.  

So yesterday, when Dan showed up in the evening wanting dinner, Tom and I had to go to the grocery (which is air conditioned!).  We were out of coffee anyway, and that is a true emergency in Tom's opinion.  So at the grocery, Tom and I picked up nice, cool, picnic-like food to have at home:  country ham from the deli, tabbouleh salad, eggplant ratatouille, fresh cherries, cheeses, olives, and bottles of water, both flat and sparkling.  Then we added a fresh baguette and small apple tart from the bakery across from the grocery.  Voila!  Dinner!

Walking along the path between the Quai Branly and the Port de Suffren
in the early morning.

In this heat wave, the night-time temperatures have been going down into the 60s and there have not been air pollution events -- until now.  Last night was a little uncomfortably warm, and the air pollution index has risen to almost dangerous levels, where it will remain today and tomorrow. 

In the heat wave of 2003, which killed 15,000 people in France, many elderly people died because of the air pollution, much more so than the heat.  Now we are elderly (or at least, Tom is), and we must be careful. 

So the apartment is closed up now, and I finished my walk early in the day.  I have urged Tom not to walk this evening, when the air and heat will be much worse.  Fortunately, this real heat wave will last only for today and tomorrow, according to Accuweather.

Then we will return to normal summer weather, which the Parisiens still might call a heat wave.

The métro almost certainly will remain hot and stuffy for a while, until cooler weather returns.  Le Parisien reported that Line 4 was 90 degrees, just about as hot as Line 6.

Looking down at a houseboat moored at the Port de Suffren.  I think many of these
houseboat residents use potted plants and container gardens to help keep their quarters
below deck cool.

Lines 14, 9, 2, and 5 are theoretically air conditioned.  In practice, Le Parisien reports, the A.C. on the trains doesn't work because the air in the stations is stifling hot.

But it isn't all bad.  The Lines 13, 7, and 8 aren't quite as hot as they would be because they have mechanical ventilation -- a super-current of forced air.  I notice on my walks that a construction area near the intersection of Rue Fremicourt and Rue du Commerce has signs indicating that the purpose of the project is to improve ventilation in the subway.  At that location, this would benefit both Lines 10 and 8.  

Still, passengers say that Line 13 is still way too hot because it is so heavily used -- too many hot human bodies pack that train.

Monument to General Diego Brosset facing the Quai Branly.

The coolest subway?  That would be Line 2, at 84 degrees on Tuesday, as measured by the Le Parisien reporters in one location.  In another location on the line, however, the temp was 91.  

The transportation authority, RATP, does not plan to implement air conditioning throughout the Paris subway system -- for ecological and technical reasons.  "Air conditioning has a strong environmental impact.  It consumes lots of energy and reappears in the form of heat in the tunnels and on the platforms," said one RATP operator, according to Le Parisien.

RATP tries to be sympathetic, however.  Up until Monday, RATP agents had distributed paper fans and 65,000 bottles of water to passengers.  Well, that's something!

Sizzling and staying healthy in Paris

July 7, 2017 – Paris is in the middle of a four-day heat wave: la canicule.  Not nearly as deadly and long as the heat wave of 2003, this bout of bad weather does make walking in the afternoons and evenings uncomfortable and unhealthy.  So the best thing to do is what I did today: forget the normal morning routine of reading the news, writing, and editing.  Instead, get out and walk early – do those other things in the afternoon.  In addition to one long walk from 7 to 8AM, make several short outings (to the bakery, to the fromagerie, to the grocery, and to the wine store) later in the morning. 

You’ll be surprised at how the steps add up.  It is midday now, and I already have walked 9,000 steps.  Our walk to dinner at Le Pario tonight will add a few thousand more steps to that number, so that in spite of the heat wave, I will have had enough exercise for the day to stay healthy.

Art Deco building detail in the 15th arrondissement.

The bad ozone builds up in the late afternoon, too, so that’s another reason to stay in, with windows closed, in the afternoon.  (NEVER overdo physical activity when bad ozone levels are high; that can damage your arteries.)  That’s the time to laze about and watch the Tour de France (AFTER work at the computers is done, of course).  Late at night and in the early morning, we have windows open, so we can trap the cooler air in the apartment for the day.  Like the vast majority of places in Paris, we have no air conditioning.

Yesterday evening, I reserved a table for the five of us at the Bermuda Onion because we know that place is air conditioned adequately – after all, it is in a modern shopping mall -- and because we know they have food that our 16-year-old granddaughters will want to eat.  But we adults were unexpectedly surprised at the high quality of the cuisine that we were served.  There must be a new chef in the kitchen.  He or she is terrific.  The reason to go to Bermuda Onion at the Beaugrenelle Center now is the food.

Art Nouveau building detail in the 7th arrondissement, facing the Champ de Mars,

We started by sharing a Planche Asiatique­  ­- an assortment of shrimp tempura, chicken spring rolls, and vegetable samosas with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.  All this was perfectly fried, tasty, and non-greasy.  Tom and Dan had tender veal mignons with mushrooms and little potatoes in a dark, rich sauce.

 I had a healthy but delicious serving of barely poached salmon marinated in a clear, spicy Asian sauce on a bed of chopped fruit and cucumbers; called Escalopine de saumon and described as an “exotic salad,”  it was extraordinary.  I suppose many French people might not like it because it is so spicy, but I loved it.

Dan had two mojitos, which he said were the best he’d ever had.

Veal mignon with mushrooms and potatoes

The girls loved their hamburgers.  We didn’t mind the slow service so much because we were enjoying the air conditioning, which almost kept up with the dining room even though it was filling up with hungry people.  We’d never seen the Bermuda Onion so full.  We relaxed there in our plush, upholstered chairs for a couple hours.

My dessert, a Peach Melba, was also extraordinary.  Tom had a beautiful and generous café gourmand, and the girls each had a rich and good moelleaux au chocolat.  (Dan just had a glass of sweet white wine for dessert.)

Escalopine de Saumon

We were seated at a nice table by the window so we could look over the newly completed plaza below, the Seine just beyond it, and the Statue of Liberty at the end of the Ile aux Cygnes.  The plaza includes a sizeable Velib station (inexpensive bicycle rental) and some tasteful landscaping in what used to be an ugly, improvised parking area.

By the time we walked home, the temperatures were barely tolerable, but okay. 

I should mention enhanced security because people often ask me about that.  This year we are seeing more security measures, including guards checking bags as people enter attractions like the Beaugrenelle shopping mall – not just the museums.  

Bermuda Onion's hamburger and fries.

Even though my handbag is small, I always unzip it and hold it open for the guard to check, even before he asks me to.  And I always say “bonjour” and “merci” to the guard.  The girls have copied me on this, and so we leave a nice impression on these guys, who probably are hassled by at least a few people every day.  I don’t envy them their jobs.

Peach Melba

Treats served with the cafe gourmand.