The sun-facing windows and curtains are closed all day and opened in the cool of the evening, until we go to bed. Any breeze then runs right through the house. We're fortunate that our house is north/south facing, so we live in the north side during hot weather, apart from trips to the kitchen. I'm also grateful for the leather sofas - lovely and cool. When the leather warms up a bit I change seats.
I went to hang some washing out a short while ago, and weirdly although while standing in the sunshine it was baking, in the shade there was quite a nice cool breeze and didn't feel that warm.