Wilted Europe eyes global warming (and air conditioners

“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t take credit cards today. It’s the heat, you know.”

The smiling waitress at a sidewalk cafe in this European capital more accustomed to freezing winters than wilting summers was dead serious. Apparently because of what French speakers call la canicule – the heat wave – the credit card I’d presented was not acceptable. Yes, phone lines were working, but the heat-averse card machine was not. So it would have to be cold cash.