TRAVEL: The Decayed Summer

Only a well-worn Briticism was adequate to describe this summer's weather in Britain and a good part of Western Europe: it was "absolutely filthy." Continuous rains drenched the country lanes of England and the sidewalk cafes of Paris. In mid-August, temperatures dropped to a chill 57° on the English Channel coast and hovered near freezing on the French side. London last week had its coldest August day since 1871; Wordsworth's famed Lake Country had its 32nd consecutive day of rain. Frigid Frenchmen threw up their hands in disgust and dismissed the whole...