Weather and crowds in Provence/Paris in August 2006
 

Hello everyone - I've read the posts about the heat in August and the fact that a lot of vacationing Europeans head to the resort areas in the south of France(French Riviera, etc) - is Provence just as crowded and is it at all possible to find lodging there with A/C. Is it hotter there than Paris? Are the areas on the drive towards that direction also intolerably hot?

Thanks again!

Provence tends to be hotter (much) than Paris. To give you an example, 3- 4 days ago, when Paris was 28 celcius (above 80F? - please use only converter if you need to know it in Fahrenheit), some part of Provence (notably Carpentras) went to 39C. Some areas in Spain had 49C. Lots of differences, aren't there?

Although it really happened a few days ago, I may have given you an extreme case above (re. tempreture diffrence Paris - Provence). If you want to see general tendencies, refer to a site like the following.

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/Europe.htm

If you watched today's stage of the Tour de France you will have seen just how hot the temperature is...and it's not unusual for the time of the year.

Yes, Provence will be VERY crowded in August, as that's the big European vacation month. So make your hotel reservations well ahead, especially since not all will have the a/c you want and need.

I remember driving from Provence to Germany one scorching, humid July. We spent one night at a nice hotel without a/c along the Mosel, and the butter on the plates in the restaurant melted within half a minute.

Another night was in Burgundy, not far from Beaune; again, no a/c in the hotel, so we spent the afternoon in the pool. The restaurant was, thank goodness, air conditioned, but our room was uncomfortably warm all night long.

Generally, the hottest area of France in August is the Rhone valley -- cities like Orange, Carpentras, Avignon. Anywhere in that basin can heat up, and Grenoble can also be one of the hottest cities in France several times a year. Once you hit the coast, temperatures go down.

Thank you all so far for your responses to this post - I know this is subjective based on one's tolerance of heat but what is a better month to visit the Provence area heat and crowd wise? Would the Loire Valley area be just as hot in August? How about Lyon?

Thank you once again!

ttt

Provence is usually much hotter than Paris, although in recent years Paris has occasionally equalled Provence in summertime.

In both areas, you need air conditioning in August. Temperatures rise each year everywhere.

The Loire Valley can also get quite hot, and Lyon is in the Rhône Valley--one of the hottest regions in France.

The south of France really suffers from summer heat, and it seems to be getting worse. Try to go in spring or fall.