S u m m e r t i m e

Africa rocks at Bastille>.

Ain't It Grand?

Paris:– Monday, 16. July:–  In 30–odd years of living here I have not seen Bastille Day weather like we have just had. It stopped being a normal, rotten, wet July and the sky became blue and the sun shone upon us all, while the temperature climbed up to southland levels and warmed our hearts and feet. Who than cares a fig if today was to be stormy, cooler and a lot wetter?

Sarkozy Smiled On Us

It just goes to show that crediting the new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, for the wonderful Bastille weather is mainly fair, because he is president as he wanted to be, so he should shoulder the heap of credit for it. I mean, France Météo is just the messenger and it's a wonderful bit of weather they gave us, thanks entirely to President Sarkozy.

Before I can switch back to a mood of total gloom, tonight's TV–news and weather actually had some good tidings. Take Tuesday for example. Up along the northwest coast, also known as the Channel, there will be a line of clouds that might have rain in them but the map seemed to show a slight breeze of 50 kph blowing northeast – while we are southeast of there. All well and good with a temperature of 25 degrees.

Max eats pizza.

That translates into mostly sunny around here and the same goes for Wednesday, with one point off the temperature. By Thursday that line of Channel clouds miraculously shifts to the southeast, leaving mostly clear skies behind. It means mostly sunny again, but with the temperature off by another point, to 23 degrees. It's looking good for the beginning of Paris–Plage next Friday, 19. July.

Users and friends can avail themselves of the following weather forecast or prediction from across the Atlantic, from the resourceful professor of languages, Météo Jim, with yet another philosophic prediction like the ones we used to have in the olden days of hither and yon.

Survival Summer

The summer has survived the release of the i–Phone, les Fêtes nationales des Etats–Unis et de la France, the frenzy of the magical date 07–07–07 and the unveiling of the return of the Fiat 500 – Cinquecento in Italian. Prices range between 10,500 – 14,500€. Even the Groundhog – who now refers to himself as the i–Hog – has gotten caught up in the hype. Having grown fat both physically and financially from la dolce vita in the Server Lady's garden, he has placed an order for a stretch–Fiat 500. No delivery date has been announced but expect a photo of it in Metropole any day now.

Max drinks.

As the halfway point of July arrives, so too does the halfway point of summer. Already in Pommeland the sun is rising a little bit later every morning. In a week or so, the difference will be noticeable to anyone who rises before noon

The i–Weather this past week saw temperatures and misery indexes in the upper 90s – 35+ i–Grad on Monday and Tuesday. Relief began to arrive on Wednesday and by Thursday the thermometer was in the lower 80s a–Grad – 28+ i–Grad.

As for the coming week, warmer temperatures – upper 80s a–grad – until midweek followed by a cooling trend as the weekend approaches. Chance of showers almost every day along with isolated chances of this report being correct.

A la prochaine , Météo Jim

Café Life

Summertime, Summertime

Time has run out on me again. Owing to the visit of a close relative named Max there is hardly much I can say about the city's new plan of nearly free bikes, called Vélolib'. You can rent the bikes by the day, the week, or by the year. For the latter the fee is 29€ per year and you can ride any available bike for 30 minutes as often as you like. Go over 30 minutes and start paying more. Parisians jumped on the bikes with glee yesterday for the first time.

The Vélolib' setup.

Free WiFi is another city offer starting immediately. All sorts of places will be offering free wireless connections to the Internet all over the city, inside and out. The inside places like libraries and museums will only offer the free WiFi when they are open, but parks and the outdoor Paris–Plage should offer the service from 7:00 to 23:00.

Sightings of the Fiat 500 are still restricted to the original. In fact a quick Web search turns up very few candid photos of the new wundercar anywhere. We will keep our impatience in check, just as we are doing for the iPhone. While waiting, it is only until next Friday that Paris will be without this year's Paris–Plage. As every year, it will be more and better, with a new offshoot up the anal, by Stalingrad. The sand trucks move in tomorrow.