Hi NYTraveler: Toast Chillers! I'm still laughing over that one- it must be an East Coast thing!

blattes: the noise they make when one stomps on them?

The answer is maybe don't turn on the lights in the middle of the night! Hundreds of them - horrors! I live in South Florida, and we do have our share - but ours are called "Palmetto Bugs" and they are huge. Extermination services are big business here - everyone has monthly service. Sounds like some of those Paris apartments need these services!

Sue4: Rather than not turning on the lights they kept them on all night to deter the little "buggers" from coming out.

ChatNoir and Scarlett, when I first arrived in France I got a bit mixed up between blattes (cockroaches) and blettes (a kind of vegetable). Got most frustrated until I discovered I'd been explaining to my colleagues that my apartment was infested with Swiss chard

I know this is old, but I just found it and can't resist saying that at least hanl didn't try to order a side of cockroaches in a restaurant!

Scarlett, didn't you also find a cockroach in your salad at Spago's in Las Vegas recently? Eeeeek!

Yes, as Scarlett mentioned, I've rented for years in London and also in Paris as well as other places. No, I've not seen a roach ever in any of those apartments. But as for my own home in Naples, Florida -- that's another thing, except we call them Palmetto bugs here, and all the spraying in the world won't guarantee that from time to time you're not going to spot one.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but my mother always says there was a world of difference between a kitchen roach and a Palmetto roach. According to her, the former are a sign of an dirty environment, the latter a sign that one lives in the Deep South. Needless to say, we sometimes saw a Palmetto, but NEVER a kitchen roach! LOL

We saw neither creature during our Paris apartment stay. But I'm in nytraveler's camp - I'll bet they were hiding in the walls!

From Scarlett-"Thank goodness, the only times I have ever seen roaches or roach-like creatures was in Jamaica and they were not in my house!"
Now, wait a minute, Scarlett. I thought you were a Florida person. You must live in a hermetically sealed condo down here.
Patrick, we don't call them palmetto bugs until they reach 4" long. Then we pretend they just wandered in from outside. The little German guys come with the territory. Orkin comes with great regularity and we are still not winning the war.
I remember my first turn-on-the-light experience. Thought I'd have a heart attack. But now I am used to it. Better than the scorpions in the house in Arizona.

I have seen a few roaches in Europe (France and Switzerland). They were always tiny, about 1 inch or so and brown colored. I don't like roaches (of course) but these are not that bad compared to the ones you see in Asia, 2-3 inches big, shiny black and I've even seen them fly (only once or twice. They usally don't, fortunately)! That's frigtening. Do the big ones in Florida fly?

Back in '45 when I was in a Naval Hospital stateside after being evacuated, we had to leave our ward one night because "the bug man" was coming to pay it a visit.

Next morning we saw why. A mound of cockroaches -- enough to fill a strawberry basket -- was swept up just from within the ward's small galley.

And we thought the place was "clean" before that night. Just went to show that any place can harbor the little brown bugs, providing conditions are right. The bugs, I was told, were looking for water, bread crumbs dropped on the floor, and warmth. We provided all three -- so we had "night visitors." Same goes for Paris; you provide the conditions...and they will come.

Hi all,

Roaches were here before the dinosaurs. They will be here long after humanity has disappeared.

They don't eat much. They are cleaner than flies. They don't make a lot of noise late at night.

We should all learn to live with them.

Gregor Samsa

No Ira, they will have to pry my cold, dead fingers off my Orkin contract before I will give in!

Manatees are prehistoric animals that should be preserved. Roaches are prehistoric animals that should be made extinct. The sooner the better!

Left Bank, flea-bag hotel in my youth... plenty of roaches there. Hawaii has huge roaches that FLY. They also eat the glue off book spines. That's why you don't get rid of the friendly gecko that crept into your place....My first apartment in North Hollywood, CA, tons of the little buggers, but only discovered AFTER we'd moved in and the insecticide had worn off......Wags, do post the place so we can avoid it. Patrick, I'm with you vas a vis the quest for roach extinction.

kappa: Yes, the ones in Florida fly - ewww.

janeg: When I was living in South Florida we had the monthly exterminator visit and after every visit we'd find a dead scorpion or two. I don't think you've escaped them!

Hostess twinkies and Cher along with roaches will survive humanity

Ugh, what an awful story! I can sympathize as we were staying at the Marriott Palm Desert (CA) a few years back with my inlaws and had to change rooms 2xs because of a roach infestation, not just a few roaches but 10-15 whenever we turned the lights on, and that's a very posh resort. I will never, ever return!!!!

I take it that they don't teach Kafka anymore.

This is not exactly on point, but it's interesting and worth reading. It's a NY Times article with some horror stories re the dangers of persticides. I wish I could say the stories are surprising. The article will no longer be accessible for free after a few days. You need to register (free) to use this link to get to the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/ny...esticides.html