Heat wave and nudity

The last heat wave lasted for two weeks and was brutal, the toughest one recorded ever in France. I think they define a heat wave a period of over 3 days when temperature is over 30C during the day and doesn't descend under 20 at night, so buildings can't cool down. In this cas it was more like th temprature was 40 during the day and 30 during the night.

I took screen shots from the official French weather site. 42C at 7.45 pm and 35C at 11.20 pm. And this at the weather station of the city, which is situated outside, near the airport, on the grass under the cover, with no asphalt and buildings around. It must have been a few degrees higher in the center, where I live. It's an old, historic building with high ceilings and thick stone walls so not prone to overheating - but of course, with no AC.

I am not shy but I don't like to shock and offend people, so I normally don't show myself nude to unsuspecting people - well, older women in particular, men don't seem to be upset if it happens (ok, I did a few dares, but that was because "bad company", aka tipsy girlfriends, especially newer nudists). Especially if children are around - not because I believe that seeing nudity harms them (on the contrary, it would be better for them to grow up in a nudist-friendly environment, rather than discovering how adults look like under their clothes on porn sites) but because most middle-aged people seem to believe it.

But during the heat wave the issue was less about modesty and more about survival. So dear neighbours and colleagues, if I flashed you, apologies. It was not intentional.

At home, I didn't use any clothing for the whole two weeks. Stores were down during the day but I would open all windows widely around midnight and keep them open until leaving for work, close to 9 am. So some neighbours might have seen me (a couple surely have, and repeatedly) but such is life. D was striving to have a towel at hand, not because he is shier than me but because people are more likely to complain when they see a naked guy rather than a naked woman. But I couldn't be bothered. It was 33C inside. I like heat, I basically never use AC when available, I can walk in 45C heat and 28C inside is fine for me, but after sweating for two weeks, wearing clothes at home is no longer an option.

I walk to work, just a bit over one mile, but in the morning it was already 30C. I brought a business suit for any official meetings, but I had few and the rest of the time I wore the lightest summer dress I could without being accused of being naked. I technically do have AC at work but it didn't cope, especially in my office, oriented South-West and with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows. I had a bit more colleagues visiting for no reason - unless it was to look down my dress, but I was basically in survival mode, so what's the worst that can happen? They see a nipple, maybe two, so what? Just a bit of crumpled skin, everybody has them.

I also announced that I need rides for a dip in the nudist lake only a couple miles away from work - and I had sufficient offers to go there every single afternoon. I would just take off my only piece of clothing, get into the water feeling almost like my skin was sizzling. The water is very cold, I could only stay for a few minutes, would go out, stand or walk around until hot again, take another dip, wait to dry and go back to work - half an hour all in all. At least colleagues who accompanied me had no more reason to come in my office just to look down my blouse. I felt sorry for the guys, they were not allowed to wear shorts. But why do all guys wear undies under slacks or suit trousers? I wear no underwear in summer in general, let alone heat waves.

It's sales time in France (yes, there are only two month-long periods in the year when real sales are allowed) so I needed to walk around in the city center to my favourite shops. I would each time get under the fountains and take a shower. I only regretted it once, I was wearing a quite sheer blouse but once wet it became all but invisible (D even took pics when I got home). It was a bit of a walk of shame, but I decided to not care, it's a heat wave people and I tried to refresh a bit, I am not topless and even if I were, is this the first time you see a pair of boobs? Get a life. But I didn't get any complaints, in fact most guys and many women gave me smiles instead.

You couldn't find any fan in the shops and on Amazon delays were over three weeks. Not even mentioning mobile AC units. But we decided that we will take the necessary steps (condo approval mainly, but I hope this will be possible, we are only three owners) to instal AC later in the year, so that we can survive the next summer without shocking and offending neighbours and colleagues with too much exposed skin.

Now the heat wave is over. I still keep the windows wide open at night but I try to cover myself when getting close to them. Today I'm going with my Ukrainian neighbours to a nearby lake, not the nudist one so we will keep our bottoms on, and on Monday off to the first part of my holidays. Three weeks of sun and sea - and of course AC, now I started to appreciate it and will likely use it.

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