3000 Frogs croak in the heat They are keeling over from 98 degree temps? That is a typical summer day down here. Ever hear of AIR CONDITIONING?
They don't need a/c 99% of the time except around the Meditteranean (sp?). But if you were there now, you would be far more alarmed at the armpit odors rather than the smell of rotting, bloated bodies piling up along the Champs d'Ellyse (sp?) Seriously, the French are great -- its just that their government has largly been run by weasels for the past 200 years. In that respect, they are very similar to the US. I've only been there twice and don't speak but 30 words of French, but i had a great time and can't wait to get back. And Greeson, what say you about French wine? or are you not a wine drinker? Rodger
I drink wine, but I also drink beer and prefer both to have some body and flavor, ergo I don't really like French wine which is kinda bland to me unless you go for the exotic/expensive stuff(same goes for Cali wines too so its not just a Frog thing). To me Italian and Austrailian vintages are the best. Even the cheapo Italian "wine in a box" tastes better than most... I love Chiantie!
Yeah, back in '72. Did they ever market that crap outside of college campuses? Great stuff if you had no money (a step above Tango, Bali Hai, Boone's Farm, etc.). PR guys were giving the stuff away, along with those "Pax Maximus" posters that they air-brushed the nipples off of. (I might still have one around here)
The temperature got a lot higher then 98° in a lot of places. And the French do not have air-conditioners. Stores also ran out of fans. The hospital I am staying in is not air-conditioned. Lucky the weather is more like southern England here on the English channel, although we had a couple of bad weeks. Not all Third World countries are below the equator or east of Germany.
A report on CNN tonight said that some of these families asked the morgues to keep their elderly relatives "on ice" until they finish their vacations.
The French take their August vacation very seriously. The whole country shuts down. My doctor is in vacation right now. No admissions in rehab for three weeks. And this is the second-best rehab hospital in the country. If you are in a trauma unit or surgery, you stay there because this service is not an emergency service. I am supposed to start outpatient rehab in the number one hospital, but I am staying here for now. Because it's August. The mayor of Paris just gave a special authorization to keep the whole a lot of unclaimed bodies for an extra week so that families can return from vacation and claim them before they are put into the ground with ID numbers on the grave. By the way, the medical community is blaming all those deaths on the hospitals grossly understaffed situation. See, not an easy August, but French law limits working hours at 35 per week. Everywhere. It's supposed to be a measure to reduce the chronic double-digit unemployment by making businesses hire more people. It has failed miserably. Not all Third World countries...