Bed bugs in France?
Sep 30th, 2023 | 02:32 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jun 2009
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Bedbug Issue in Paris
Oct 2nd, 2023 | 01:23 PM
#6
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,418
Likes: 1
If a traveler who has acquired bedbugs on their luggage checks into a clean room for a few nights and then you check into that room, there will be bedbugs. It's one of the "perils" of travel. Always has been, always will be.
I only encountered the little beasties once. One summer in college I was living in a room at a fraternity house with what was the usual low level of maintenance. I discovered bedbugs in my bedding. I used my arcane knowledge of biology, which included the factoid that bedbugs are repelled by or eaten by cockroaches, which even eat the bedbug eggs. So I went to the kitchen, collected a sample of the abundant roaches, and let them loose in my room. In a few days there were no more bedbugs. Then I used another piece of arcane knowledge: Roaches will eat boric acid powder mixed with sugar, and than die. I put the mixture in suitable locations. Soon there were neither bedbugs nor roaches in my room.
Modern times have led to having no roaches in hotels, so there bedbugs are not stopped. Luckily, neither bedbugs nor roaches carry human diseases, but they are not fun.
I only encountered the little beasties once. One summer in college I was living in a room at a fraternity house with what was the usual low level of maintenance. I discovered bedbugs in my bedding. I used my arcane knowledge of biology, which included the factoid that bedbugs are repelled by or eaten by cockroaches, which even eat the bedbug eggs. So I went to the kitchen, collected a sample of the abundant roaches, and let them loose in my room. In a few days there were no more bedbugs. Then I used another piece of arcane knowledge: Roaches will eat boric acid powder mixed with sugar, and than die. I put the mixture in suitable locations. Soon there were neither bedbugs nor roaches in my room.
Modern times have led to having no roaches in hotels, so there bedbugs are not stopped. Luckily, neither bedbugs nor roaches carry human diseases, but they are not fun.
Oct 2nd, 2023 | 03:13 PM
#7
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,050
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AJPeabody, love your solutions and common sense approach. Obviously, nobody wants to get them, but if they were as easy to get and as hard to get rid of as people think, with all of the places people congregate, schools, college dorms, kids’ summer camps, subways, busses, etc., we would all have them all of the time.
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Oct 4th, 2023 | 10:19 PM
#8
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 5,227
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Bed bugs in France?
Seeing several stories about bed bug infestation in France.
https://apple.news/AR9RqSPKhTIKgt5XCswCmdQ
Beware out there.
https://apple.news/AR9RqSPKhTIKgt5XCswCmdQ
Beware out there.
Oct 4th, 2023 | 10:33 PM
#9
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 8,336
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AJPeabody, love your solutions and common sense approach. Obviously, nobody wants to get them, but if they were as easy to get and as hard to get rid of as people think, with all of the places people congregate, schools, college dorms, kids’ summer camps, subways, busses, etc., we would all have them all of the time.
Oct 5th, 2023 | 11:50 AM
#13
Joined: Jul 2007
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Oct 5th, 2023 | 12:32 PM
#14
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 24,035
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I myself have never seen a bedbug in Paris, and I go to the theatre, cinema, restaurants every week and use public transportation several times every day. I do know that most of the bedbugs reported in public transportation were erroneous reports, because anybody who saw any sort of bug, mosquito or spider said it was a bedbug, but it was not corroborated by any investigation. The bedbugs are in your hotels, and you are the ones who have brought them to us.
Oct 6th, 2023 | 03:39 PM
#16
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 5,227
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https://apple.news/ApdpMCJnCR5-tHIp1KJ0kxA
I moved to Paris in mid-September, having heard great things about the place from my thousands of cousins who already made the journey there. They were right. The conditions are perfect for me and there are amazing opportunities to put down roots and do what we bedbugs do best — get plenty of rest during the day and suck your blood at night. I feel so at home that I’ve even started using a French name, Benoît. People seem to struggle with my birth name, Cimex Lectularius.
At first, I had to find temporary accommodation but Paris hotel prices are extraordinary. So I moved into a rental apartment in Montmartre. It’s touristy, of course, and I have to cohabitate with humans but most of them are friendly. We even share a bed. Well, it is France! Sometimes in the morning, my human bed buddies seem annoyed, though, and there’s been a lot of complaining about itchiness.
I moved to Paris in mid-September, having heard great things about the place from my thousands of cousins who already made the journey there. They were right. The conditions are perfect for me and there are amazing opportunities to put down roots and do what we bedbugs do best — get plenty of rest during the day and suck your blood at night. I feel so at home that I’ve even started using a French name, Benoît. People seem to struggle with my birth name, Cimex Lectularius.
At first, I had to find temporary accommodation but Paris hotel prices are extraordinary. So I moved into a rental apartment in Montmartre. It’s touristy, of course, and I have to cohabitate with humans but most of them are friendly. We even share a bed. Well, it is France! Sometimes in the morning, my human bed buddies seem annoyed, though, and there’s been a lot of complaining about itchiness.
Oct 7th, 2023 | 09:42 AM
#18
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,418
Likes: 1
Roaches are measured by volume, not by number. A half pint should do it, or more if you intend to use them to get restaurant discounts.
