Hover a line for its translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 0 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
Sign in to generate dialogues. It needs a pass — the first ten lessons of every course are free either way.
Celsius, and no air conditioning
Temperatures are in Celsius, and the conversions worth memorizing are rough ones: 20 is mild, 30 is genuinely hot, 0 is freezing. What surprises visitors more is what is absent. Air conditioning is rare in French homes and uncommon in older apartments, small hotels and shops, because the building stock predates it and the summers historically did not demand it. During a canicule — an officially declared heatwave — that becomes national news, with cooled public rooms opened and welfare checks on the elderly. Shutters closed all day is the traditional defense, and it works better than it sounds.