most people in Western Europe don't have A/C, houses are way better insulated for short-term heatwaves and people usually don't mind indoor temperatures of up to 80-84F/26-28C. If you add the general hate French (and I think German?) people have for drafts and air currents in general and you can see how people just deal with the heat in the summer.
Not to mention central A/C in the North American sense with a air handler & ducts is just never coming to France, it's such an outdated technology and forced-air heating is generally considered to suck there.
Hmm. Two years ago I was at the Louvre in May. I know Paris is very proud it doesn’t use AC but only “chilled” water from the Seine. Well with thousands of bodies, it was HOT. I was dripping wet from sweat and I was not the only one. I read that 15k people died in France during the 2003 heatwave. I find the slow adoption of AC disappointing as I am usually a Francophile. https://www.france24.com/en/environment/20230717-parisians-a...
Most people who died in 2003 as a consequence of the heat where old people who laked enough care and dedicated resources. Lake of AC was maybe not a helper here, but there is more at play than just that.
That population is the most vulnerable, and indicative of the issue. The heat indeed killed them, but the availability/affordability of AC could have saved lives.
Not to mention central A/C in the North American sense with a air handler & ducts is just never coming to France, it's such an outdated technology and forced-air heating is generally considered to suck there.