The so-called “Dog Days of Summer” are defined in Wikipedia as “the hottest, most sultry days of summer.” As I wandered around Montpellier, France last week, that was the phrase that came to mind. Of course, that phrase was probably prompted by seeing several dogs like this one, who were beating the heat in a way I envied:
A dog cooling his heels in a Montpellier Fountain
Now, Montpellier is in the south of France, so I expected it to be hot.
But there’s hot and then there’s hot. And Wednesday was, I believe, one of the hottest days they’d had in Montpellier so far this summer. High in the high 90ºs F (or high 30ºs C ) – that’s hot. With the heat index, that’s probably close to 100º F, at least in the middle of the day when there was no breeze and you weren’t in the shade.
And in the main plaza, the Place de la Comédie, there wasn’t much shade to be had:
Place de la Comédie, showing the fountain where the dog was cooling off
Place de la Comédie, showing the fountain where the dog was cooling off
It was so hot that I actually selected the restaurant that I went to for lunch solely because the seating area looked so invitingly cool, with its shaded tables and the artificial breeze provided by giant fans set up along the outskirts of the seating area. You can just make out one of the fans to the right of the cart (and to the left of the red umbrella) in this photo:
Restaurant with outdoor fans where I ate lunch on Wednesday
I should note that there was a bit of shade off of the Place de la Comédie, in the Esplanade de Charles de Gaulle, but even that was hot. At least it had its own fountain, though:
Fountain at the edge of the Esplanade de Charles de Gaulle
Closeup of the fountain in the Fountain at the edge of the Esplanade de Charles de Gaulle; an outdoor market is in the background
But overall, my impression that first day of Montpellier was that it was hot. Really hot.
Now Chris, who was in an air-conditioned building for his conference most of the day, met me afterwards, at the end of the day, and commented gee, it’s not so hot today after all.
Well, maybe not, if you’re in air-conditioning all day.
But I think even the dogs would agree with me that we were well into the dog days of summer in Montpellier last week.
How nice though that the sultry weather you endured yielded such refreshing photos.
To turn to a more academic subject, your mention of dog days in France prompted me to ask how the French refer to dog days. Lo and behold, they call them “la canicule,” literally, ‘little dog.” They got this term from Latin “canicula,” a name for Sirius, also known as the dog star.
If we can trust Wiktonnaire, the French version of Wiktionary, the Romans attributed the heat of the dog days to the influence of Sirius, which rose and set at the same time as the sun between July 24 and August 24.
And if that’s right, lucky you, because you left Montpelier before the real dog days began!
Finally, I see that the term for dog days in German is Hundstage. I hope you’ll enlighten us!
love the above note on little Sirius. Dog days etc. But it was cool there compared to my visit in Washinton DC. the days sported a 105 F temp a couple of times with a heat index-what it feels like of 115 F. I could barely breath and thought my heart would pound out of my chest as I walked the distance between one Museum to the other. None-the-less, it was wonderful. Doesn’t Montpellier have an art colony nearby? then I guess there are so many in France and every where else.
Nice pics.
Love that close up pic of the fountain. In Philly, people “hang out” in the fountains on dog days.
Thanks for all the comments – glad you’re enjoying the photos!
@Will, thanks for doing the research and providing the history of “dog days”. I did not know that … and yes, I am glad we weren’t there later in the month during the true French “dog days.” period. The puppy days of summer last week were hot enough for me.
@Kathy, the DC temps sound horrible. I remember being in Baltimore in late August and the temps being super hot and humid, and there was no airconditioning in my apartment. Ugh. I don’t know for sure about Montpellier’s artist colony, but there are definitely several in the south of France.
@Mom – I think I’ve seen photos of people standing in fountains in the U.S. occasionally, but I didn’t see any people wading into them in Montpellier. Only their dogs.
I like the many parallel curves of water in the fountain!