France in June

[DarthGrumpy]

So here I am in the Loire Valley and it’s 100 degrees. 104 tomorrow. 102 Saturday. I’ll be in Paris by late tomorrow where it’s a few degrees cooler. Insane weather for here. Really has made touring various spots difficult. Plus no AC where we are staying. Very few restaurants have AC either.

Very true, France does not do well in the heat. Even Italy and Spain, which gets hot, does not handle to heat well in part due to the fact that old, old building are hard to retrofit to include aircontioning. There will be air conditioning in the bigger venues in Paris; but, outside of the city, don't hold your breath. That was a big advantage of living in the Alps.

 

[storrsroars]

So here I am in the Loire Valley and it’s 100 degrees. 104 tomorrow. 102 Saturday. I’ll be in Paris by late tomorrow where it’s a few degrees cooler. Insane weather for here. Really has made touring various spots difficult. Plus no AC where we are staying. Very few restaurants have AC either.

Wine cellars are very cool. Spend a lot of time there!

 

[browndog319]

Wife and I are doing Paris/Belgium in September and doing some WWI/II sites as well. Last time I was in Paris I happened to be there during the Summer Solstice, which is a huge street party and quite a lot of fun, so if you can arrange to be in a city that night, I'd recommend it. Lots of fun just walking around with all the street entertainment.

Also, I might lose the car in Paris. Really no need for it once you're in the city and parking sucks. Metro goes everywhere.

Not sure how many kids you've got or their ages, but it's really easy to get "museumed out" in Paris. Personally I'd skip the Pompidou (modern art) in favor of d'Orsay (which is mostly all impressionists). If you want to see 20th century art, the Musée de l'Orangerie is usually less crowded than the Pompidou and IMO has better overall quality of exhibits. Just walking around and hanging out in cafes also has major appeal to us on this trip. Unless you really feel the need to do Versailles or one of the other nearby palaces, there's really no reason to leave the city if you're only there for 2-3 days.

As for WWI stuff, we'll mostly be doing that in Belgium but we are interested in taking a look at one of the major trench systems somewhere, after having seen "They Will Not Grow Old."

Of course in Belgium, since we're not dragging along kids, beer is on the itinerary ;0

Yes on Musee d’Orsay

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wine cellars are very cool. Spend a lot of time there!

Did that yesterday. On to Paris today.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Very true, France does not do well in the heat. Even Italy and Spain, which gets hot, does not handle to heat well in part due to the fact that old, old building are hard to retrofit to include aircontioning. There will be air conditioning in the bigger venues in Paris; but, outside of the city, don't hold your breath. That was a big advantage of living in the Alps.

Our gorgeous apartment in Tours is part of what was a mansion that hosted Joan of Arc in the 1400s. No AC. Hotel in Paris does have AC.

This is record breaking heat for here.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Our gorgeous apartment in Tours is part of what was a mansion that hosted Joan of Arc in the 1400s. No AC. Hotel in Paris does have AC.

This is record breaking heat for here.

Its in the news now, yikes, a bit toasty for my liking. I'd also be a bit concerned for the players and fans at today's Women's World Cup match between the US and France today in Paris.

France fries: Record heat hits tourists, schools, hospitals

Thousands of schools have been closed, outdoor events cancelled and volunteers were visiting the elderly at home as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe

abcnews.go.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

Its in the news now, yikes, a bit toasty for my liking. I'd also be a bit concerned for the players and fans at today's Women's World Cup match between the US and France today in Paris.

France fries: Record heat hits tourists, schools, hospitals

Thousands of schools have been closed, outdoor events cancelled and volunteers were visiting the elderly at home as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe

abcnews.go.com

It wasn’t too bad by 9:00 pm, which was match time. Saw lots of fans through the day yesterday. Today was blistering. Just gave up about 3:00 PM. Retreated to hotel AC. I’m done.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

It wasn’t too bad by 9:00 pm, which was match time. Saw lots of fans through the day yesterday. Today was blistering. Just gave up about 3:00 PM. Retreated to hotel AC. I’m done.

Did you try the the Catacombs? No A/C; but, its 100 feet below ground and I believe its in the the low 60's inside no matter the season and outside temp. The big city center museums (Louvre, d'Orsay, l'Orangerie, Pompidou) should have A/C. Also, out iof curiosity, is it possible to get near Notre Dame? I'm not a very big religious person; but, that fire was tragic from an historical and cultural context.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Did you try the the Catacombs? No A/C; but, its 100 feet below ground and I believe its in the the low 60's inside no matter the season and outside temp. The big city center museums (Louvre, d'Orsay, l'Orangerie, Pompidou) shoudl have A/C. Also, out iof curiosity, is it possible to get near Notre Dame? I'm not a very big religiosu building; but, that fire was tragic from a historical and cultural context.

Yes you can get fairly near Notre Dame. It is blocked to get all the way there but you can get close. I took a bunch of pictures.

 

[Jaker]

Nothing worse then Rome on a hot summers day, the place smells like a steaming pile of shart. Athens, probably even worse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Did you try the the Catacombs? No A/C; but, its 100 feet below ground and I believe its in the the low 60's inside no matter the season and outside temp. The big city center museums (Louvre, d'Orsay, l'Orangerie, Pompidou) should have A/C. Also, out iof curiosity, is it possible to get near Notre Dame? I'm not a very big religious person; but, that fire was tragic from an historical and cultural context.

We wanted to do the Catacombs (even before the heat wave) but it was sold out.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Nothing worse then Rome on a hot summers day, the place smells like a steaming pile of shart. Athens, probably even worse.

On blistering hot days in Italy and Southern Europe in general, about the only redeeming aspect is the diminished coverage of the better part of the local populations’ better half.

Unless really recent improvements have occurred with hygiene and effectiveness of most European anti-perspirantd, Whoa Nellie triple-H days can be real humdingers!

 

[DarthGrumpy]

On blistering hot days in Italy and Southern Europe in general, about the only redeeming aspect is the diminished coverage of the better part of the local populations’ better half.

Unless really recent improvements have occurred with hygiene and effectiveness of most European anti-perspirantd, Whoa Nellie triple-H days can be real humdingers!

For finals in the spring of 1995, I was given a week-of of classes to get ready. I spent the first two days exploring the Rhone Valley by train with friends and included an Olympique Lyon match, a vineyard tour of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, explored Avignon and its historical Palais des Papes and Pont d'Avignon, and half-day hike and kayak trip around the Roman built Pont du Gard before settling in at a hostel in Montpelier. From that interesting that city, I took a 30 minute bus ride down to the beach for the next 3 days and studied. It was in the low 80's F all week with a pleasant beach and the beach and scenery were amazing. It got hot in Spain and Italy; but the low 80's F were the max in the south of France and high 70's around Paris. This year is crazy. Oh, I got a 3.8 that semester. Should have studied on the beach more often.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

For finals in the spring of 1995, I was given a week-of of classes to get ready.

Extremely appropriate utilization of free time; sure best being stuck in some crappy apartment, dorm or library. Or worse, an office with stanky locals!

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Extremely appropriate utilization of free time; sure best being stuck in some crappy apartment, dorm or library. Or worse, an office with stanky locals!

Montpelier is a fun city, very cosmopolitan with a mix of modern and Roman architecture. It's proximity to the beach is an added bonus. It can also be a bit wild in the Spring as there are several universities in the city, which includes a pretty large study abroad program that is shared by the B1G members, which I believe is still in running. I met a few kids from Penn St and Minnesota in the hostel I was staying at who where visiting friends that were studying there. For most US universities, the spring semester ends in mid-May while in France it ends in mid-June.