Luxembourg Gardens, Paris

Today we visited the Hillsongs church in Paris, rising early to do so. By the time we came out, the temperatures were soaring.

A panorama of the Luxembourg Gardens

Now we had parked in a Vinci underground park, and I was surprised to see it so empty. At the church, a local told us that street parking is free in August in Paris. Wanting to be certain, I checked a ticket machine on the way back. Free Sundays, holidays, and in August, it said. So I recovered the car, and with only a little difficulty, we found a free space next to the Luxembourg Gardens. The panorama above was stitched together automatically by my phone camera - with an error as you can see. The flowers were a riot of colour but hard to see in the above shot. If you come to Paris, the Luxembourg gardens are some of the nicest there are, so be sure to see for yourself.

We set off through the park, and quickly sought the shade. It was blisteringly hot, even the wind, what little there was, was only a slight relief since it too was hot. We found a café with outrageous prices. I am afraid we walked out before ordering. A second some distance away was very busy. The waitress squeezed us in between 2 other couples on the street. You had to move the tables to get in and sit down. It too was reasonably pricy, and after salads and drinks the sun had moved to start heating up the back of my neck. 

So we paid up and walked slowly back to the car; which reported 41°C. It felt like it. Thank heaven for the air conditioning for the 2 hour drive back.

Hats against the sun in the Market
at Chalons en Champagne

Here also is a picture of us wearing our hats for the first time (on Saturday as it happens, on the way to market).

And here is a warning from the France 24 news on line. In 2003 thousands of (mostly elderly) people died in the France canicule.
france24.com weather heat-wave