This is what you probably think of when you think of Paris.
Who thinks of sweat when they think of Paris?
Not me. After all, didn’t Hemingway call Paris a “move-able feast”? He didn’t say a “sweaty feast.” And Audrey Hepburn famously said, “Paris is always a good idea.” She didn’t say it’s a good idea as long as you take along a good antiperspirant. All those years I envisioned visiting Paris, the City of Light, with a fantasy of me skipping along the Seine’s riverbank, tossing cherry blossoms in the air and singing, “Oh happy day!” But there I was, in reality, cruising the Seine River on a barge-like dinner boat, seated at a table covered in white linen with shimmering wine glasses and fancy china dishes. Castles and ornate statues and colorful flower gardens hailed us from the river’s shore. Our river boat didn’t have air conditioning on that humid and muggy day, with the temperature teetering around 97 degrees. So Jodee and I fanned ourselves with the menus, too warm to pay attention to the scenic view. Everyone on the boat fanned themselves in a huge mass of fluttering menus. Many of my fellow cruisers began dousing themselves with the ice water from their water glasses. First politely dipping their linen napkin in the water glass and dabbing the cool water on their face. But the dabbing didn’t do the job and the process evolved into drenching entire bodies with the water from their glass. “Waiter! More water, please! No, don’t pour it in my glass, just dump on my head, thank you.” Our tour guide had explained on the bus ride to Paris, “This weather is unusual for us. We usually have weather in the 70s this time of year.” Ohhh! Lucky (sarcasm) us! We get to experience a Paris heat wave. I admit, Paris is the most beautiful city on earth even when it’s boiling. No question. But stifling heat can take your mind off of beauty. Yes, even the beauty of Paris. And if that isn’t shocking to you, I don’t know what is.
