Bottle of water, sunscreen and fogger. It was the essential trio for those who wanted (anyway) to venture into a walk in the streets of Bordeaux, this Monday.
In the middle of a heat wave episode that strikes France, and in particular the South West, the thermometer posted this afternoon, 41.6 ° C in the capital of New Aquitaine, announced Météo-France, broke the previous record which was 41.2 ° C, going back to July 23, 2019.
“We may be from the Southwest, we still got fooled”
The 30 ° C bar had been crossed in the morning, and at noon, the thermometer already displayed 36 ° C. Consequence: without being deserted, Bordeaux still displayed a much lower attendance than usual, local and tourists preferring, when they could, go to the ocean.
The water mirror, emblematic development of the quays of Bordeaux, facing the Place de la Bourse, and where you can dip, was one of the main spots of tourists and families who had decided to brave the heat, overwhelming. “We may be from the southwest and used to the hot weather, we still made ourselves have: we came out without water and without misty,” says Marylène, a Bordeaux who shows the city to her friend Kathleen, from Toulouse. It is barely 11 am, and the two friends are already starting to suffer from temperatures that keep climbing. “So we will go immediately to equip each other, and after, the idea, it will be to walk in the coolest places in the city, especially the shaded alleys. We also planned to go and discover a new bookstore, which has just opened rue Saint-James. »»
“We are going to hydrate and eat ice cream,” adds Kathleen, who admits that the two friends might have done better to go to the beach today. “We went there on Saturday, we should have done the opposite. »»
“From this afternoon, I go into the moors to take refuge in a house”
Léa, a young Bordeaux of the right bank, also went for a walk in the mirror of water this Monday morning. “I live in an apartment located in a stone building, a material that absorbs heat before returning it,” she explains. In town, we suffer much more the heat waves. Fortunately, I am lucky to have family in the countryside, and this afternoon, I go to the Landes take refuge in a house. I’m going to take the opportunity to go on a leap to the ocean, where there is a little more air. The young woman believes that these heat episodes that repeat themselves and are intensifying in recent years, “are clearly anxiety -provoking”. “I am convinced that each of us can make small gestures, at our level, in the face of global warming, but it is also obvious that we are faced with much larger issues that are exceeding us. »»
Lorraine, from Bordeaux, but who now lives in Lille, is back in her hometown for a few days of vacation. “I live with my parents who live Gradignan. We take advantage of the morning when the temperatures are still bearable, to visit the city, but from noon we return to their house, to benefit in particular from a small inflatable pool for our child. This is what it takes to support this heat wave, even if we also pay attention to our water consumption. “Julien, a 33 -year -old Norman on vacation in the region with his wife and his son, also goes after spending the morning in Bordeaux, finding refuge in the house he rents during his stay,” where there is the air conditioning and a small pool “.
Figuers, water fountains, and schedules of parks and widen swimming pools
Due to this current red vigilance, the city of Bordeaux is “maximum alert”. “We have a scorching wave that started on Friday, first with a yellow alert, which went in orange and now in red. Tuesday will also be classified red before the temperatures go back down a bit on Wednesday, but it will go back at the end of the week, where we will have 39 ° C, 40 ° C. We are therefore in a particular period, during which we must be extremely mobilized and vigilant, because it tires the organizations, “explains Stéphane Pfeiffer, deputy mayor of Bordeaux in charge of resilient town planning, housing and the social and solidarity economy.
The city has notably implemented prevention policies for the most fragile audiences, especially the elderly, “with a file of 3,600 people over 70 years of age to call”.
The municipality has also started work to “adapt the city” to climate change. “We have notably launched a vegetation plan, with 57,000 additional trees … The difficulty on the old center, is that we are faced with the need for preservation and valuation of heritage, vegetation is therefore not always authorized by the architect of buildings in France. On all the districts we still managed to create spaces of freshness. »»
Bringers and water fountains are also deployed in public spaces, while the hours of parks and gardens are extended until 11 p.m., those of swimming pools, until 8 p.m. And swimming monitoring at Bordeaux Lac beach is maintained up to 8 p.m. Certain green school lessons, such as the Brazza district school, are also opened during weekends and holidays, as part of an experiment. “This allows residents who do not benefit from outdoor space at home, to take advantage of it,” points out the elected official.
“We are faced with a huge issue to refresh the city,” observes the elected official, and this takes time, because our cities have been late compared to the acceleration of global warming. »»
