Cher Frogman.
When I visited your country in the summer of 89 and 94 I initially stayed in 3-star (non-climatized) hotels, but soon had to move to more expensive ones because the heat was unbearable. When I arrived here to stay for some time, I rented a flat close to the tower. Late in the spring of 2001 there were 3 or 4 nights during which I left my bed at least once every hour to take a cold bath until finally, one of those nights, I slept inside my airconditioned car. Last year, going from Aix-en-Provence to Barcelona and coming back from Spain at the height of summer I gave up visiting all those nice churches and basillicas because it was so much better to remain inside the car. Oh yes, by the end of the 2001 spring I did invest part of my earnings on the biggest most powerful and expensive portable air-conditioner: it cost me at the time, if memory doesn't fail me, FF 9.000 (that was before the Euro, and I had to take it home with me in my car because delivery would take too many days). Thus, I have the personal experience to refute anyone who says that this summer was such an exception: it was a couple of degrees warmer and the canicule lasted a couple of days longer. But the European summer has been hellish for the last 15/20 years as far as I can tell (and I can only speak about that period because before that I used to come to Europe during your winter which coincided with my longer South American summer vacations). Europe is too hot for me, and I'm Brazilian, so I know a thing or two about heat. Some definitely don't like it hot.
Now, let me ask you something. I suspect that those French deaths were also due to the lack of another facility typical of modern life but somewhat lacking here: lifts. If you're 80, live on the fifth floor, walk with difficulty and don't have a lift in your building, before going downstairs, crawling to the metro station (even if you have money for the taxi, who said you'd find it easily?), getting to the hospital and then having to go back and climb all those stairs again,you might think twice. And, when you've made up your mind to go, you're already too weak to do it, the neighbour who lives on the same floor is on the beach or drunk or doesn't like to be bothered and, perhaps, you don't have a phone or don't really know whom to call.