With extreme heat and heatwaves, temperatures have drastically risen. In addition to shaking up the quality of life and daily routines of the people of Nice, the heat has forced many to rethink their organization. A report on those who are venturing out earlier in the morning.
It is barely eight o’clock on a Monday morning on the Promenade des Anglais. The thermometer already reads twenty-three degrees. And yet, it is the freshest temperature of the next twenty-four hours. This is a time that the people of Nice do not hesitate to take advantage of. With the heatwave days and extreme heat, the daily lives of the residents have been reshaped and sometimes even disrupted. The morning has established itself as the key time of the day. Here we meet the Nicois who are going out earlier and earlier.
Escaping the heat
Many people want to escape the heat. Especially when the thermometer reads over thirty degrees during the day. Thomas, a student working in a restaurant over the summer, chooses dawn to cool off. “I start work at ten in the morning during the week, for the lunch service. And with this heat, working is complicated, I won’t hide it from you. I decided to get up a bit earlier to take a walk on the Promenade des Anglais. And then I go straight to work, it’s on the way, but at least I arrive fresh, let’s say,” he explains.
For Jeanne, the desire to cool down is also present, but for a different reason. This retiree living in an apartment on Boulevard Gambetta explains the discomfort of living under this heatwave. “I sleep poorly at night in the heatwave, even with my fan. So I wake up early and decide to come for a walk here by the water. I live five minutes away on foot, it’s convenient. And I take the opportunity to have my coffee on the way back. I have no choice but to come in the morning to the Promenade to escape the heat,” Jeanne explains.
Avoiding the crowded peak hours on the beach
In the heart of the tourist season in Nice, some might have found the solution to crowded beaches. “You have to come early so there’s no one on the beach,” laughs Emma, a 23-year-old student. “No, but seriously, I can’t come anymore on the weekend, it’s too crowded. Plus, with the heatwave and even the general high temperatures, people come as early as ten or eleven in the morning to enjoy the nice weather,” the young woman explains.
She had no choice but to come early after trying several beaches along the Promenade, and even elsewhere. “I tried all the beaches, up to Carras, even Villefranche-sur-Mer, basically everywhere. But always too many people, and if I have to take the train to go to the beach, the carriages are packed, it’s not pleasant. I’m on vacation, I’d rather come early, and besides, it’s already warm so it’s perfect,” Emma concluded.
A change of schedule for some
Andrea, a student, had to completely rethink her schedule for her passion: running. The young woman used to run in the evening when the sun set. But for several weeks now, the heat hasn’t let up, or barely. Even in the evening. “I used to come to run around seven at night, but it’s still too hot now, it’s not possible. The morning has become the best solution. Even today, I’m not early, it’s eight-thirty. Normally I try to come even earlier, but it also depends on my motivation when waking up,” laughs the student nurse.
The same goes for those walking their dogs. With one difference: this time it’s also the animal that is suffering from the heat. “Both of us are too hot during the day, even in the evening, so we come in the morning,” explains Louise. The same goes for Julien: “I’m lucky to have an energetic dog, he enjoys coming for a walk in the cool morning air. Anyway, we’ve already tried later but it was too hot for him, and for me.”
Not to forget swimming, which also had to be revised. André, sixty-eight, used to swim every day in the late afternoon. A daily swim that has changed time due to the high temperatures. “I can’t handle the heat as well at my age. But I still want to swim, we come every day with my friends whom you see here. So, we decided to come in the morning, so it’s less hot and we can continue our routine,” the retiree says proudly. In Nice, the upcoming weeks of July promise to still be hot. But one thing is certain: the people of Nice will adapt to keep living.
