having been bitten from head to toe in the worst mosquito summer I can remember in my home town (Winnipeg) I have to make sure about our trip to Provence next October. I have read on this forum that there are mosquitoes in the Camarque and at Pont du Garde. Am I correct in assuming they will be gone by October as they will where I live?

I go to Provence and to the Camargue every year and have never been bitten by a misquito, where here in Boston , they eat at me. Do Not wear fragrance!!!!! It attracts them! they seem to like my Italian darker skin but not my wasp husband's. He is fair, and never has a problem.

There are mosquitos around, that's for sure, but where exactly and when is not always easy to say. I read an article about voracious mosquitos in Arles, but never had any problem personally - same goes for the camargue. we have them here in the luberon, but nothing too out of control. remember that Provence is generally a very dry place, so mosquitos are never a major concern. Even less so in October. And there is always bug spray in a pinch...

-Kevin

I had to make my trip to Pont du Gard very short due to many mosquitos..I had no repellent and they were around in swarms. It never occurred to me to think of it. I was there middle to end of May this year. I did not see them other places I visited, Uzes, St. Remy, Arles. I don't know about October.

Few years ago, I took two weeks long walk around Provence in October,I didn't see any mosquitoes. But in May 2003, I got bitten so bad in Avignon and Carmaque,I had to visit a pharmacy.

Must be us Winnipeg girls--I now live on Vancouver Island and the skeeters still get me. We will be in France at the same time and I was wondering about the bugs in Burgundy and the south of France. I will take my bug spray with me.

Do take that bug spray! You probably won't need it in Burgundy (although flies can be a problem in some areas), but in Provence it's rare to find window screens. From our own experience, mostquitoes have been absent in the eastern part of the country, at least where we've stayed. In other areas hotel rooms have often had anti-bug stuff, either candles of some sort or repellants. Best bet might be to get some of the new insect-repellant clothes and hats.

I was in Provence for 2 weeks in May (of this year), including a day in the Camargue, and never saw a mosquito. I also spent several hours at the Pont du Gard, and never saw any. Maybe they just don't like me!

Normally, I'm mosquito fodder, but I've never been bitten in either the Camargue or at the Pont du Gard. I've never been bitten by a mosquito in France now that I think of it and we've been there at various times in May, June, July, August and November.

From experience in Haiti, don't wear yellow. Mosquitos love it. Don't wear fragrance.

I don't think I'd worry in October.

......another voice from the Canadian
wilderness......how about the little
buggers in SW France in September?
I'm more than fodder - I'm the mudder
of munchies to mosquitos. :-<

Mosquitos are NOT "attracted by fragrance" but rather by the release of carbon dioxide..hence they are able to seek you out and bite you in the dark, etc.

Take bug spray just in case...up to you...if there are any bugs do you want to be eaten alive or smell like "Off" for a few hours and comfortable?

no mosquitos but flies were a problem

We drove through the Camargue the first week of October, got out of the car to do some bird-watching and hiking and mosquitoes the size of eagles came after us. Or maybe I have that wrong: we never actually saw them coming, it was the <i>ferocity</i> of eagles I'm thinking of! We lost ten pounds of blood in a matter of minutes.

Use bug spray in the Camargue. Or drive through with your windows up.

Oh selltile, I see you're reporting after the trip! You were lucky that the mosquitoes didn't like you. Did you actually leave the car in the Camargue?

I go every year to the Camargue and have never been bitten by one.
There are also huge insects that look like mosquitoes but are not that family nor do they bite.

We were in the Luberon at the end of this past September and the first few days of October, and saw no mosquitos. I should mention that it was a dry week, sunny every day, and with no rain. The week before, the Mistral hit 100 Km/hr, which probably drove all the little buggers out to sea as well.

A week earlier, at bit further north in Roanne (a bit NW of Lyon), there were a few mosquitos in the evening, but they were not problem during the day, even walking through the woods near the canal.

- Larry

Hi

Normally I don't get bothered by mosquitos. I've been in St Remy this week and no problem.

But last Saturday I was at an archeological site on a lagoon near the Camargue and I got a real biting. And nasty ones ....... I still have the lumps.

So if you are near water, or it has rained and it is warmish, you still need to be careful.

Peter
The Languedoc Page


So

When we visited mid-October/early-November, we had no problem in Provence - Luberon, St. Remy, Arles, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Orange, etc. That said, on our trip to the Camarque we met another couple decked out head-to-toe in protective clothing. They were being bitten alive by mossies. We hesitated opening our car door when they were near, but the mossies didn't bother with us. Maybe something they were wearing - but there were mossies here. I would suggest you have some sort of repellent containing Deet - just in case.

Interesting. We were eaten alive in Tuscany, Umbria and Liguria but didn't see one mosquito in Provence.

We spent hours hiking through the Camargue Ornitholigical Reserve and didn't see any bugs at all. This was the 2nd week of November.

We've never been bothered by mosquitoes in Provence and since this was our first major trip to Italy, we didn't think of mosquitoes . . . bad mistake!! Italian mosquitoes are vicious.