French toast
PARIS Ñ The historic heat wave which is baking France and much of Europe has not relented; wildfires, drought, and dozens of deaths have been attributed to the weather.
What the French call a canicule has baked the country like a soufflŽ with hot African desert air being pumped into Europe blocking the cooler mid-Atlantic air. Remarkably, despite the high temperatures, the sky was clear and cloudless, now the haze has set in.
Though the French have invented and perfected the worldÕs fastest TGV trains, a bewildering array of mobile phone technology, and still bask in the proud shadow of the Concorde supersonic airliner, it appears that simple air conditioning is yet to be invented.
Excluding some better hotels and supermarkets which appear to have 375 varieties of yogurt, go to a bank, most shops, or the Metro and prepare to enter a stuffy and fetid sauna where even simple ventilation seems a futuristic concept. Paris sports a wonderful public transportation system, but take a ride on the super sleek green and white busses of the municipal RATP and ready yourself for beaucoup sweat and tears.
The old rationalization is that Òwell it never really gets that hot here.Ó Sorry, but I must report from personal experience that while Parisian summers are not as bad as New York, they do regularly run in the 80Õs during the day, but not as bad at night. This heat wave has put the temps in the 90Õs right up to 100F degrees, or from about 30-38C for the Euros. Basic ventilation and air conditioning is common sense, not a luxury frill.
Le Figaro reports that the heat wave is the biggest since 1949. ÒFrance is overwhelmed by the heat,Ó the newspaper concedes.
The canicule is just the most recent of the woes confronting France this summer. The continuing Franco/American political fallout from the Iraq war is part of a problem which carried into a spring season of crippling national strikes, a stronger Euro currency, wildfires in the south, and the lingering apprehension about global terror.
France remains the worldÕs premier tourist destination with 77 million visitors in 2002.
While foreign tourist numbers are down this summer, the higher spending American segment is obviously off. Despite the comically maladroit attempts of French tourism authorities to use Woody Allen to promote France, the fact remains that itÕs just not in the stars this year.
IÕm surprised not to have yet heard that George W. Bush is blamed for the heat wave by not signing the Kyoto climate Treaty.
For Americans, probably the two main reasons rest with the Iraq aftermath and the dollarÕs weakness against the Euro (off about 20 percent since last year). Regarding Iraq, thereÕs still a smug self-righteousness among the French political class that the Americans were wrong to go after Saddam. Though most opinion now concedes Saddam was not such a nice guy after all, thereÕs a decided moral relativism which then adds that ÒBut Bush now has his oil and the Americans control the Middle East.Ó
DonÕt forget French businessmen are missing out on a plethora of petroleum and building contracts which have appropriately gone to countries actively assisting the American effort. Queldommage.
The French present the Iraq operation as an imbroglio in which Washington has become entwined. Not surprisingly France would now probably like to help the U.S. providing thereÕs a big mea culpa from the Bush Administration concerning not going the UN Security Council route. DonÕt count on that anytime soon.
But now the weather is the news. We can all agree that wonderful French mineral water and Pastis anisette drinks are a great summer idea.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
See current edition
of
   |
