Melting Point

In the shade

Today is the 5th in a row with a temperature of just under 40 degrees. There's to be a slight respite in the middle of next week when the thermometer is forecast to plummet to 32 -for one whole day.  Then it's back to 37/38  for the foreseeable future which, in French Meteo terms, is 10 days.
'You'll be used to this,' is the cheery comment from most people  when they see our Australian flag (right after they have asked if we came from Australia in the boat).
I confess to being temped at times to make out we're tough, adventurous types who spend our days toiling under the blazing Aussie sun panning for gold or hiding from it down the opal mines in order to fund our ocean voyages but I don't have the energy for creative thought (hence no recent blog posts). So, I admit that sadly, no, we didn't come by boat and no, we are not used to it. Believe it or not, in Melbourne, our really hot spells usually last only a couple of days at a time.
So how do you keep cool on a steel boat?
The short answer is you don't. You can only attempt to minimise the pain.
So....

•  keep the sun off the boat. as much as possible. We have tried out every form of shade with varying degrees of success; shade cloth, foil car windscreen shades, various canvas sunshades, beach umbrellas, beach towels, old sheets. You name it, we've tried it. Often all at the same time. I can tell you that the boat may end up being one or two degrees cooler than the oven you're cooking your lamb roast in but I will have collapsed from heat exhaustion from all the arranging and rearranging. And as for those bloody beach umbrellas, the slightest puff of wind  and they either flounce themselves inside out or theyr'e off and taking your eye out on the way.
•  keep moving and catch whatever breeze there might be. The price for that comes later when you have a roasting hot engine keeping the boat from cooling down at all at night and you from sleeping.
•  attempt to find a spot with afternoon shade and stop. Good luck with that. Either there's already some smug punter in it and they're not moving - ever - or you can't get into the bank because it's too shallow, too rocky, too eroded or whatever.
• avoid concrete/stone quays. They reflect and hold the heat. Find somewhere with grass and then cart your chairs off the boat and sit under the nearest tree.
• hang out in an air conditioned supermarket for a while. Downside is you feel even worse when you come out and have to cycle back to your boat - plus you'll have been lulled by the a/c into forgetting the full horror of the heat outside and foolishly have bought some shopping which you'll have to lug back.
• find a river or municipal pool or just have cold showers. Canal bathing isn't a good idea.
•  stiffen that upper lip and make the best of it. Join the locals in a bar/cafe and comiserate over a beer or ice cream. Appreciate those balmy nights on deck with a chilled bottle of wine (the fridge may be struggling but is still just about working) and admire the stars and planets in the cloudless sky. If it hadn't been for the heatwave we'd most likely have missed Venus and Jupiter's recent spectacular appearance.

I wrote this over a week ago. Since then 'la canicule'  (heatwave) has continued with 3000 deaths being reported. The next few days are forecast to be a bit cooler before things start hotting up once again. Tomorrow we leave the Canal du Centre and head out onto the River Saone which hopefully will feel a little cooler. In the meantime I'll attempt to catch up on our travels over the past weeks.