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Chapter 1: How hot is Bordeaux right now and what records are being set?
Eddie Bowen is on the line. Eddie, where in the world are you at the moment?
I'm in a very, very hot Bordeaux in France.
How hot is it in Bordeaux, Eddie?
At the moment, it's my temperature shown here, 42. And that's a record since records began here in Bordeaux in 1825. And to make matters worse, we're expecting between 44 and 45 tomorrow. how are you coping with it? I'm not great and this pasty white Irishman is struggling.
I'm a bit of a puddle of a mess of sweat but it's, yeah, it takes a bit of getting used to when you're not, when you haven't really suffered this heat for this land like it's been now since Friday, you know, and they seem to be well used to it here and well catered for it but when you're coming from Ireland it's a completely different kettle of fish.
So, does it cool down at all at night? Is there any respite?
Not a whole lot. Last night now, I was just checking because, again, family from home in Ireland were asking me how it was. So it's between 32 and 35 last night. Oh, my God. In the middle of the night? Yeah, never went below 30 last night. And there's no breeze or nothing. I went out to Ikea and I bought two industrial fans for the apartment just to circulate some air.
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Chapter 2: What strategies is Eddie using to cope with the extreme heat?
Yeah, I was going to ask, I mean, what are you doing to try and keep the temperatures down?
Hydration. I went out and I bought, there was already a fan here in the apartment, but I went out and I bought two more in Ikea yesterday, took the train up. Actually, the tram system was probably the best place to get a cooling because it is actually the coolest place around. Oh, the trams are air-conditioned. They're air-conditioned. They're absolutely out. They're lovely, the trams.
I think there's people taking spins just to cool down. And in fairness, the local cinema here is offering free tickets to the elderly today because their cinemas are all air-conditioned. So that was a nice gesture.
So paint a picture for me. I mean, Bordeaux this time of year is getting busy. Are there many people out and about or is it fairly dead during the middle of the day because it's so hot? What does it look like?
During the day now it's quiet. Schools are closed now today in the area. There was exams supposed to start today in the university. They've all been postponed for at least until the middle of the week. But again, on Sunday, it was not a beautifully hot Sunday, but they had this fete music across the city, which is free live music all over the city. And the city was absolutely heaving with people.
But it was, you know, seven o'clock at night when it started. But it's not stopping people enjoying themselves.
How long have you been there, Eddie?
I'm here now, I'm going into my third week here in Bordeaux. Started off nice and warm, I can manage with this, but the last couple of days has been, as the headline in the Surrequest paper this morning is that Bordeaux has been crushed by a heatwave.
You're not there on holidays, you've relocated, is that right?
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Chapter 3: Is there any relief from the heat during the night in Bordeaux?
My family home where my mother lived, I was living with her. She passed away, so the house was sold. So I looked at the finances I had and I had a look at houses in Ireland. I travelled all over Ireland from Dock to Strokes Down to Newcastle West to Yall to all over the country just to try and stay in Ireland.
but simply couldn't afford it it's just it's madness you know like four stone walls rubble basically just the rubble was a hundred thousand and then when you try and look for a builder to come do some work you know well we don't know when we can the expenses are going up so you're probably there were very few houses where a turnkey that you could walk in and live in and at that stage you know
when you start looking at your finances for the rest of your life, you're kind of thinking, I need to have a house. I need to have somewhere to live. Don't get me wrong, I can afford to buy in France, but the cost of buying somewhere here in France is just, because I bought a three bedroom house here in France, fully furnished for 64,000. Wow.
Yeah. Was it, I mean, economically, financially, that's an easy decision to make. But I mean, personally, is that an easy decision to make to leave Ireland?
No, no, because I spent all my life in Ireland, loved the country. I've been heavily involved in history in Ireland, heavily involved in doing radio history, part of the Irish Pirate Radio Archive over in DCU. I was chair of the local historical society for a couple of years. I spent my lifetime in the bar trade. I loved Ireland.
I always loved going back to Ireland, but, you know, when I came back,
looking at the you know when you sit down with the pros and cons and you sit down with the bank balance and you're kind of looking at it you know say if I keep myself in a straight and narrow there's probably 30 years left in my life so what am I going to do with it so it became a no brainer Set aside the stifling heat there I mean are you excited about the adventure ahead or how are you feeling about it?
That's a brilliant question Ciarán I'm good at that I have to leave Ireland. I love Ireland. My passion is Ireland. Irish history is my passion. But at the end of the day, I have to look after number one, and number one is me. My kids are all grown and flown. I did do everything possible to try and find a house or a place to live.
There's no point renting because that's just money down the Swanee River, especially when you're ending your working life and all you've left is a state pension. You have to budget a little bit tighter. And so when I looked around, I looked at Spain and Portugal. And I came over to France. I did have a little bit of a soft spot for France in the first place.
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Chapter 4: What does the atmosphere in Bordeaux look like during this heatwave?
Yeah.
Yeah. Trying to get stuff out of them. Yeah. Yeah. So I've just been acclimatizing myself and trying to get the language a bit better. Yeah.
You know, making friends. Yeah. Well, listen. I hope you can endure the heat anyway while it lasts, Eddie, and make some of those friends.
I tell you, Ciarán, I would take a drowning from a cold bucket of water right now.
All right. Well, listen, stay in touch and it's been good to talk to you back in a moment.
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