I've traveled regularly to France for 20 years, after having lived here for about 10 years in the 70s and 80s. I can count on my fingers the number of days I've ever felt the need for air conditioning. And I lived in San Francisco, where my heat ran year-round, because it was so chilly all the time.

And you're right, there are those days. I was here for July 4th weekend one year and it was extremely muggy. Big thunderstorms. It doesn't happen often.

I guess I think air conditioning is an environmental nightmare. It's true that Florida (especially Naples, I hear! -- one of my best friends lives there) is unliveable without AC. So much of the southern US is like that. But France is not. The heat wave (canicule) of 2003 was a rare event.

I think most people, especially those from Florida and other hot humid areas, would do better to bring extra sweaters and thick socks to Paris, even in July or August.

ckenb, was that a knowing comment? You do know, don't you, that I live in Naples, Florida. Trust me, I have never wanted extra socks or a sweater in Paris in the summer (except for that one time the first week of October when it started freezing, then turned very warm. But I would have been miserable most times I've been there without air in a smallish hotel room!

By the way, I rented an apartment in San Francisco for the month of August once, and while I agree that I froze most mornings, there were many afternoons when I was sure glad I had air conditioning in the apartment to turn on. But even then not so much as in Paris.

I did see something you wrote on another subject where you said you lived in Naples, Fla. I've never been there, but it is true that a good friend of mine does live in Naples and loves it. She moved there from Seattle a few years ago, saying she wanted to be as far as she could possibly get from her ex-employer and the cold gray Seattle climate without having to leave the U.S.!

I lived in San Francisco for nearly 20 years and never had air-conditioning, except that provided by Mother Nature. It just was not an issue. As I said, my furnace ran year-round, at least mornings year-round. August is one of the coldest months there because of cold ocean winds and fog.

The news on RTL French radio this morning is that the Kyoto Accords are taking effect today, but that the country that produces the most pollution of any country in the world, the USA, still refuses to go along. I hate to think that France is installing air conditioning all over the place when it really is not needed. In my opinion...

35,000 people died in Europe 1.5 years ago due to the heat wave - and to a large extent air conditioning would have saved many. The human suffering extended far beyond those who died. So perhaps not everyone needs A/C all the time, but lots of people in Europe did.

I was here during that heat wave and it was incredible. I felt it intensely because I had lived in San Francisco, where it is almost always chilly, for nearly 20 years previously. And older people felt it intensely because it was such a rare occurrence. Many died.

Last summer everybody worried about a repeat of the heat wave. It never happened. We had the rainiest, chilliest August since 1960. People I know who bought air conditioners in the fall of 2003 never once turned them on.

Air conditioning in these chilly climates like France's is a breeding ground for legionnaire's disease. There's too much mold and mildew. There must be some other solution.

Can you tell that I personally detest air conditioning? I grew up in North Carolina and lived for several years in Washington DC. Living in SF without air conditioning was so much more pleasant. Like living in the Loire Valley, but chillier. No air conditioning at my house.