Heatwave - dreading holiday in Paris next week

[HotGrapefruit]

DH and I are booked to go to Paris next week. The average highs in June are around 23 degrees, which is about the max I can handle. But the forecast is up to 40 every day. This wasn't what we were expecting at all.

I'm dreading it. The metro doesn't have aircon and neither do any of the places I've booked to eat (I've now cancelled them all). We had an assortment of walking routes planned, but none are going to be realistic.

We've spent a fortune on a lovely hotel room and Eurostar travel, so I can't bear to cancel the whole thing.

Does anyone have advice or reassurance or am I just going to absolutely hate it?!

Oh thank you. I adore Lyon. I went to Uni there. Though I have to admit my itinerary now is very different! Will definitely be hitting some air conditioned museums.

Agree it’s so underrated- I love it!!

Hmm yeah, thinking about Versailles, there's a huge courtyard with no shade that you have to cross (and sometimes queue in), isn't there?

Why would you come on to a holidays thread (where people seek travel advice) and say something unpleasant?

Why swear? It is a perfectly reasonable thread on a holidays board. Every ‘holiday’ issue is a first world problem. Stay away from the board if you can’t handle it?.

I always use the Batobus (ferry) to travel back and forth where possible. It's a beautiful way to see the city and will be far more pleasant than the metro.

I am with you OP, I would cancel because I would be unable to do anything much at 40C, let alone enjoy it.
Could you not change the Eurostar tickets to later in the year? Could you get some money back from hotel cancellations, or is it too late?

This is such an extraordinary and parochial opinion that patronises other countries to an extent that is embarrassing. Where are you calling the First World? Where in the world are you assuming people don’t have holidays, don’t travel and aren’t bothered by being comfortable when they go? I have friends in Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, India and Pakistan and they travel far more than people in this country do, because they’ve now got family all round the world now in a way that people in England, at least, are mostly unfamiliar with. They’re not rich but seeing family is a priority.

Only someone with a tunnel visioned, second hand belief about the rest of the world would trot out this exceptionalist First World rubbish.

They don't open until 10am in London either!

We did Florence and Sienna when it was 40deg in 2022 and I was, as I know now, in the throes of peri meno, night sweats on a rolling basis.

As pps, eat in the shade, don't drink too much alcohol it will make you feel worse. Maybe take some electrolyte tablets too, these will help esp if you are drinking tons of water.

Gosh I’m not going to be very reassuring here but it’s boiling in Paris atm. We’ve got a garden but we are shut in with air conditioning in the afternoon. We are surviving basically!!
So my advice 1.Absolutely make sure the hotel has air conditioning. 2. Get up early and have breakfast /out go for walks its ok til about lunch time. 3. Bring a swimsuit cos i think there sre areas of the seine open (? Not seen it myself but vaguely heard about it) . 4. Some museums and cinemas will have aircon.5. Use line 14 when you can it has aircon. 6. Temps start going down around 7 ( hopefully) so not too bad fingers crossed .

We’ve been told to expect the highest temperature ever recorded over the whole of France for Monday ( sorry OP)

I think you were right to cancel your lunches - it'll be too hot to eat much at lunchtime anyway, much better to go out for dinner at night when it will hopefully have cooled down a little.

If it's unbearable, you can book a hotel with a pool for the day - google day hotel rates, there's a couple of sites. These aren't book by the hour places! Proper hotels, you get room and facilities from say 10 to 5.

I did it once in Italy, I had a late flight home and it was just too hot. It was lovely to have a chilling in the shade by the pool day. Even if you go back to your own hotel that evening, you'll have had a break from the sun.

I think with museums, parks and gentle strools you'll hopefully be fine.

The cruise down the seine mentioned by pps is a great idea and it’s easy you don’t usually need to book. Whereabouts are you staying?

Yep I’ve started doing that.

This. Go out in the morning early and see the sights, museums and many shops will have air con. Take plenty of water, wear a hat or use a UV umbrella, stop in cafes for cold drinks and snacks, have a siesta in the heat of the day and go out in the evening when it is cooler. It will be hot but you can manage it.

Art galleries and museums and churches will be cool. Get taxis. Sit at cafes in the shade and watch the world go by

I wouldn’t cancel if it’s a nice hotel it will have aircon so I’d just go back for a rest in the afternoon if it gets too much.

I am in Northern Italy at the moment where it is low 30s and am at the limits of my tolerance - and that's by a lake and with a pool etc. In OP's case, I would cancel. I came home early from holidays once when I was pregnant and it somewhat unexpectedly went to high 30s. What is the point in spending even more money to be either miserable or scuttling around desperately searching for air con or shade? I've long since stopped going to most of mainland Europe for July or August, but June and maybe even May have now been added to the list.

Get a neck fan and a hand held fan. They are rechargeable and can be charged using a battery bank when out and about. They work brilliantly!

We were there during the May half term heatwave, and I’m sorry to say that it did significantly impact our enjoyment of our trip. DD got heatstroke and ended up vomiting one night. We realised that Paris is not a terribly green city apart from the few parks, and spent a lot of time darting from one shady spot to the next. It was a shame as one of the joys of Paris is walking around, but that was pretty unenjoyable.

It will be fantastic! Blue skies and sunshine and none of the horribly organised trip you had planned. Just play it be ear, be spontaneous and it will be fine. Pissed it down with rain when I went and it was thoroughly miserable

This is ridiculous behaviour.

I've experienced just about every kind of weather in Paris from daily rain; a blizzard and well below freezing temperatures; a very chilly May; a humid August; mellow autumn mists and fog, plus ordinary,average sunny and not so sunny weather and I can categorically say that a prolonged,blistering heatwave was the absolute worst I've ever had to deal with there.

Blue skies and sunshine? They get that in the Sahara Desert too.

I would cancel it. We had a heat wave in South of France last year, 35 every day, 40 on two days, spent most of the time under AC

Solidarity OP. We’re currently in the Loire Valley and have changed plans to come home a week early because we just can’t stand it. 41 today and forecast to get hotter… Too hot to sit in the shade or swim in the pool and no matter how much factor 50 we’re wearing, we’ve all burnt. Not fun ☹️

I’m with you OP. I’m a similar age and cannot tolerate any kind of heat any more. It makes walking around unbearable.
I’m looking at the forecast for next week and absolutely dreading it - the ‘feels like’ temp for most days is 34°C and you can bet it’ll be humid as hell (UK). Unless all I’m doing is lying on a beach or next to a pool, it’s miserable. But no, I’ll be doing the sweaty train commute to work to my non air conditioned office 😬

People who don’t experience heat intolerance really don’t get it and there will be some scathing comments on here, as if all you need to do to feel comfortable at 40° is try harder - you’re just not trying hard enough OP!

I take at least 3 medications that make me heat intolerant so I totally understand how you feel.