Considering how parsimonious they are with showers and deodorant over there, I wonder what Paris is smelling like in this heat.

I just heard something similar about Rome and wondered if this was also true of the northern Italian industrial heartland.

This is absurd. The US is far more productive than Europe because (besides having less precious capital wasted by government) we work harder. One of the reasons we work harder is the almost universial installation of climate controls. Even if midday temps only reach the eighties, especially when it's humid, productivity slows down.