Oooh, Shannon, sounds wonderful!

Paris is busy with tourists (meaning lines) and we certainly saw crowds at Chenonceau a few years ago in August. there are some restaurants that are closed, as is Berthillon on Isle st Louis.

There are still plenty of things open and some say the street traffic is improved in Paris because most are on holiday that month.

Once in August was hot and the next it was cool and cloudy.

I am with Nikki, to me there is no bad time to visit.

While I like Sète well enough, it's a far cry from what most Americans dream of when they think "Provence." It's probably the last remaining real French fishing village on the med and has the gritty side that goes with that. It's nice that it has miles of sandy beaches, great seafood, and some great historical attractions, but it certainly doesn't have that "provençal feeling."

Only a few small shops and restaurants are closed in August. It really doesn't matter unless you have your heart set on some name restaurant which is closed.

I don't understand why anyone would think this in the first place. Why would tourist sites be closed during one of the biggest vacation months (I noticed someone found out they were open)? I've never heard of such a thing anywhere, closing tourist sites during vacation periods, and that goes for national museums and everything else. Why would any major dept store or grocery store close for the month of August?

I made a report about Sète last summer:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...&page=1#122096

oh, this isn't unique to France, either, August is generally a slow period in both North American and Europe, it seems to me. But the one thing that is missing in August is performing arts. That is important to me but is irrelevant to most people. So that is the one reason I try not to plan a European vacation in August, if I can help it. There are no ballet performances and no major concerts either. No opera usually, but I don't care about that, but I do care about dance and classical music concerts. Paris is better than most places as the Paris Opera Ballet ends on 7/14 and then there is often some visiting company at the end of July (I've seen a Russian company and the Cuban Ballet in Paris during last week of July, but even that is usually over by August).

Christina - you've never heard of the Edinburgh Festival?

http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/festivals

Wanted to add an update circa 2016. Just came back from a week in Paris. Yes, you will see signs on doors that the shop or restaurant is closed. It really wasn't a problem because there were three more brasseries on the same block that were open, no matter what block you're on.

The french are on vacation, but that diminished traffic jams, always easy to get a table at a restaurant, the metro wasn't crowded. The weather was awesome (highs in the high 70's, low's in the low 60's, way better than our hot sticky muggy 95 degree weather in Ohio)

As for shopping, St. Lazarre neighborhood was chock full of shops and department stores.

We had NO problem with some places being closed. It was kind of fun to stop and read the lovely notes on the doors from the owners to their customers.

Upon leaving we decided that we would AIM to return in August because we had such an amazing time. I'm just posting because when I was looking for the same info I didn't see anything very recent, so this is for all the new travelers that have the same questions.

OH, and one final thought. We felt COMPLETELY safe in France, everywhere we went.

It isn't so much the heat as it is the HUMIDITY, I would not ever stay in any hotel in Paris that wasn't air conditioned and I probably "do" heat better than you do because I live in Florida.

I never get this concept of humidity being a problem in Paris. I grew up in the Deep South, and I know all there is to know about heat and humidity, with and without air conditioning. There are indeed days when Paris can be very muggy, but most hot days are dry and not at all a problem if you have a breeze. This last week has been quite hot and humidity was not at all a problem except for today since it rained a bit -- the temperature went down by 5°C but it was less comfortable than during the hot sunny days.

I agree with kerouac, since I come from the Deep South as well.
If you live in the desert, you might notice the average 62% humidity during the summertime - otherwise, probably not.

I believe that most people are reacting to the widespread lack of air-conditioning in Paris, rather than the humidity. And if you're used to being in an air-conditioned car/house/office all the time, instead of walking an average of 7 miles per day outdoors, that would certainly have an effect on your system.

Hotels have reliable air-conditioning, and would be a good choice for anyone sensitive to heat and/or humidity.

look for restaurants that with signs that say "Salle Climatisee", that means it's air conditioned. But we prefered to sit outside, the breezes were lovely.