Can't read the article but I was in Paris from Aug 3 to 8. Under the Eiffel tower near the bird salesman and miniature Eiffel tower salesmen, the price of a bottle of water was 1 euro, the price of a bottle of frozen water was 2 euros. Business for the ice was brisk to say the least.

Luckily in May I had asked the owner of the apartment I was renting if she had a fan. She said she didn't but when we arrived (the day before the heat started) she had a brand new one there. Nice. At night, we put frozen plastic bottles of water in front of the fan and it helped (yeah, right), but the kids kept stealing the fan. I guess we needed two.