‘Paris in this heat is awful’: Tourists change plans as sites close early

PARIS - The severe heatwave sweeping France on June 23 forced the early closures of top Paris tourist hotspots the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and left disappointed visitors sweltering with little respite.

Spanish nurse Maite Blazques said she had spent months saving up to bring her six-year-old son to Paris, but the record heat forced her to reorganise the whole holiday without going inside key landmarks.

“We had to change our whole trip,” said the 35-year-old from Madrid, as France on June 23 experienced its hottest day since measurements began in 1947.

“We won’t be taking a guided tour of the historic Marais district, or a river boat cruise, and we won’t be going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower,” she said quietly, head bowed and holding her son’s hand.

The operator of the Eiffel Tower said the latticed-steel monument would “exceptionally close” early on June 23 at 4pm local time and it was “very likely” it would have shortened opening hours again on June 24.

The 324-metre tower, which attracts seven million tourists a year, usually stays open past midnight during the high season.

Below the landmark site, American tourist Tamara Dancer said her guided tour was cancelled on the afternoon of June 23.

“It hurt our vacation,” she said.

Elsewhere in the capital, tourists armed themselves with umbrellas, hat and fans to brave pavements radiating heat.

John Beeler, a 45-year-old American engineer, said he and his wife were disappointed.

“Visiting Paris in this heat is awful,” he told AFP, wearing a fisherman’s hat and holding a small fan.

“We’re suffocating in the streets, we’re suffocating in the subway and we’re even suffocating in our rental,” he said, adding they would be moving to an air-conditioned hotel room.

Drake Winners, a 66-year-old retiree from London, was also glum.

“You discover Paris by walking, but in this heat, it’s impossible,” he said.

Instead, he said, he was visiting museums and churches where he had a better chance of staying cool.

He was able to peruse collections at the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum with around nine million visitors a year.

But management said the museum, home of iconic pieces including Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, would close at 4pm, two hours early, from June 24 to June 27 due to the heatwave.

It said the vast palace, built over centuries by various French monarchs and presidents, was “not sufficiently adapted to climate change”.

The museum has faced a litany of problems over the past year, including a brazen US$100 million (S$129.71  million) jewellery heist, a water leak and other maintenance issues.

Other tourist sites have also announced early closures or warnings as more than half of mainland France remains under the weather service’s highest alert level.

The most visited tourist attraction outside of the capital region, the spectacular Mont Saint-Michel island in Normandy, on June 23 warned visitors to “put off your visit during the red alert”. AFP