Small American fan

Unfortunately, probably not, as the current here is 220V / 50 Hz vs 110V / 60 Hz in the US. You'd need a converter, which is bulky, heavy and unreliable. But do check your fan's label (sometimes veeery tiny) and see if you can find its power rating?

Pretty sure you will need a voltage converter on it. If it still jhas the tag that comes on some electronics, it should read 110-240 volts on it. If only 110, it will fry in France.

Becky, are you staying in a hotel without AC? If so, they usually have fans. If you are staying in an apartment, contact the host to see if they have one. I have seen travel fans that are battery operated. That would probably be a better bet than a plug-in fan that will likely cause an electrical problem. You could also consider buying a dual voltage fan but I would look at reviews first because my niece-in-law used a dual voltage appliance in Paris and still ended up frying her flat iron.

In 2003 during the worst heatwave we couldn’t find a fan anywhere and we looked in many stores in Paris neighborhoods. A few years later we looked in the summer and found a good selection. Last year we were staying at the same apartment and asked the owner if she had a fan (we’d given ours away to someone we knew) and said that yes, she now had 4 fans in her apartment. In her nearby Monoprix there were stacks of different sized fans to purchase.

I think Paris stores in general are more prepared to meet demand and people have been steadily purchasing fans over the last 16 years.

More hotels offer fans when they have no or inadequate AC. Apartment rentals are more likely to provide a fan.

I would take a chance and buy one there if my lodging didn’t have one.

If you want to bring a fan over with you best to purchase a USB powered fan. Amazon lists over a hundred different models.

Thank you all. We will check with the apartment owner. We know no air conditioning.

You normally need a heavy transformer (which will get very warm in use) to run a 120 volt fan on 240 volts. We had a car on the France trip where we went to the local equivalent of Target and bought a 240 volt fan, which I lugged home in the suitcase. Some hotels have fans to loan out, others don't. We often pay for a hotel with air conditioning these days.

I happen to have a one-pound, old Franzus 120 watt (again, WATTs) transformer from 1985, but they are not commonly available. I now use it more often for my cheap toothbrush charger which is (engraved nameplate ... ) ONLY 120 volt.

Any recommendations for things to do in Paris during a heat wave to stay more comfortable? Sounds like museums, stores erc won’t be air conditioned.

I don’t know what you’ve seen in Paris previously but on recent warm weather trips we’ve spent more time in shady parks like areas of Luxembourg Gardens, Butte Charmont and Parc Monceau with a cool drink. We also explored less crowded lower levels of the Louvre after not even planning to revisit the Louvre on that trip. I’m not sure about the Pompidou’s AC but the escalator and gift shop area were a hot box on that same summer trip.

Always choose the shady side of the streets for as long as you can when you are out walking.

Many formal art museums have climate control to protect the artwork. I can't comment on individual museums. We pay extra for real hotels with air conditioning. But European air conditioning is never engineered for the icy levels demanded in the U.S. ("Climate Change? No problem, my SUV has A/C for days and days!") [ironica typeface]

Tim you’d think so but it can be very ineffective or nonexistent. We visited the Musee Marmottan Monet for the first time that same summer and they actually had windows open and it was stifling inside. Air conditioning museums in Paris hasn’t improved with the times IMO. Just check out the Louvre and notice the small groups of people who pause over the very weak floor vents to get a few seconds of cool air in some rooms. You’d think though if a museum has been closed for renovations in the past 10 years that there might be a better chance of climate control. I think the museum at the Luxembourg Palace had air conditioning that was recognizable. Insurance: Take a small folding hand fan where ever you go.

Edit: we went to Musee de l’Orangerie last summer and it was adequately air conditioned.

OH gosh yes, I agree with Mona about Marmottan Museum. It IS cooler in the basement level where they have all the Monets but upstairs in the house - ghastly even on just a warmish day.

All the museums have very cool hand fans - get one of a painting you like, then it stays in your travel boxes!

I was in Paris a few years ago when it was 95. I did have a hotel with AC but I wound up going out very early in the AM to do the parks I was interested in, hit the non-crowded areas in the museums in the morning, churches in the early afternoon as those seemed to be cooler then retired to my hotel about 3PM with sorbetto/gelato from my nearby Amorino shop, lol!

Have fun, plan NOT to see as much as you thought you might see and then know you'll be back for another visit!

We were in Paris in an apartment in 2003 when it was 105F for several days. The apartment had good cross draft but it didn't matter -- it never really got cool at night as Paris usually does.

We spent 3 days at the Louvre which is air conditioned -- some parts of it more effectively than others. We would get up early and my daughter and I would go to a park and hang and drink coffee and then around 10 or 11 when it was getting unbearable we would call my husband and tell him which museum we were heading to and he would meet us there. The Louvre was good and I think we saw every nook and cranny; it is surprising how fascinating German chased armor can be when the alternative is 105F. The Pompidou was steaming (no idea if it is more air conditioned now but it wasn't effectively cool then). One day we decided to go to the LaDefense mall as we assumed a large shopping mall would have AC -- it didn't; it was stifling. We hate shopping malls anyway and only went for the cool which then we didn't get. Restaurants are mostly not air conditioned and if they are it lowers the head by 15 or 20 degrees not to a comfortable level.

There are many public pools in Paris -- the ancient one at Butte Aux Cailles (Place Verlaine) is both indoor and outdoor. There is the floating pool. Josephine Baker on the Seine. You can find shaddy spots in the Tuilleries or Luxembourg Gardens or other parks for picnicking. We enjoy the area around the Medici Fountain at Luxembourg Gardens -- it is always shaddy and a good place to sit and read.

The Jardin Acclimatation (air conditioned garden) is an ancient children's amusement park and garden which sprays mist from the ground and from walls here and there so 'air condition' and there are play spaces with spraying water for the kids to run through (not soaking like a water park, but more misty). I would think the Fondation Vuitton museum adjacent to this park would be air conditoned but don't know for sure.

I believe the museum now showing the Electro Music exhibit at the Philharmonie is air conditioned and it is a fabulous exhibit if you have any interest at all in Electro Music we loved it and the chance to hear so many of the pioneers in this genre. I believe this space is air conditioned but it was cool enough when we were here in May that I am not absolutely certain. It is a new building; I know the concert space is air conditioned, I would be surprised if the exhibit space is not also air conditioned.

Believe it or not my husband and I travel EVERY international trip with a small $15 WalMart metal fan. We have been burned too many times not to take it......spent one year in Madrid where the bump-and-grind bar music was so loud through our room that the fan was the only hope of drowning it out......AND.....it serves 2 purposes as it stirs the air and makes your room cooler as well. Also spent a scorching summer in Marseilles in rooms with no air......and everyone with us was ready to offer us big $ for our wonderful little fan in the sweltering nights, trying to sleep in heat after long days. So many hotels, as one where we just stayed in Vienna, will not turn on any air until June 1, no matter how warm your room is.....but with that small fan you can make it more comfortable to at least sleep at night.....an important necessity while traveling! We take the big bulky converter along with us......just consider it part of our luggage and do not fret over it. I may forget some clothes but WE NEVER FORGET OUR FAN!!!!!

I’ve been reading thru the local Paris media, and of course one of the big issues is the lack of cooling on public transportation. According to several news outlets, the Metros 1, 2, 5, 9 and 14 are newer and have some version of cooling, so are recommended. However 94% of buses don’t. 1/3 of RERC trains have some sort of cooling, with a 50-50 chance of cooling on the other RER lines.

Now checking where to go on the “cool” metros...

I just checked and this art show we are interested in seeing in August is in an air-conditioned space. https://www.atelier-lumieres.com/en/home We will wait a couple more weeks before booking an afternoon and/or evening viewing. The afternoon features light projections of Van Gogh’s work and the evening show features Klimt. We’re thinking about going on a hot or rainy day.

. I think the museum at the Luxembourg Palace had air conditioning that was recognizable.

I was there today and can confirm — I was shocked at how good the air conditioning in there was!! Especially if you stood right over a vent — come to think of it, they had both floor vents and ceiling vents, because I can remember a downdraft in one room.

Too bad the current exhibition closes June 30 — and the next one doesn’t open until September!

As for metros, the line 6 is the absolute worst as far as the temperature, I recall from articles last summer (and experience) 🥵

Kim, yes line 6! I used to take that one from Passy to Raspail one summer...a perfect beef steak: seared above ground, then finished in the underground oven. 👨‍🍳

Becky,

I would NOT suggest taking a "Small American fan" to Europe, as it will almost certainly be designed for operation ONLY on 115 VAC. Unless you haul along a Voltage Converter, the fan will self destruct in spectacular fashion with sparks and smoke the first time you use it in Europe.

Transformer Voltage Converters are inherently heavy so not the best device to be hauling around Europe. Finally as mentioned in an earlier reply, if the fan uses a synchronous motor it won't operate normally at 50 Hz.

I'd suggest an alternative......

• ask your hotel staff / landlords for a fan (ventilator)

• buy a small fan when you arrive in Europe

• use a small USB fan (although it won't move as much air as a full size fan).

Ken's suggestion is the same as mine - buy a fan when you get to Paris. I'd go to BHV which has a lot of housewares. It's across the street from the Hotel de Ville, hence the name, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville

When its hot we go to the Invalids Army Museum.. its cooler and FAR less crowded than the Louvre or ORsay ( both have ac but its not very effective and the body heat from the crowds negates its small effect , although I recall a few floor vents I would stand over for heat relief being rather nice lol )

The Invalids Army museum is actually surprisingly interesting too.. both my hubby and kids have enjoyed it.

Uh, Pat . . .
There are no Mona Lisas or Monets in the Invalides Army Museum.

But there are Picassos, at least for a time.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Many of the larger churches, while not air conditioned, are certainly cooler than the outside.