So, what is your experience?

Not sure if it is acceptable to discuss here but I thought I test the waters...

Beka, does your question relate to travel in France? (That is the focus of this forum.)

Kathy

If you had an experience with bedbugs at one of your accommodations on this trip, please tell us about it. If it didn't happen in France, it may belong in a different forum.

My daughter, five months old at the time, had bedbugs at a well respected B&B in Bruges. Everything else was wonderful.

I've always heard Americans talk about bedbugs in France, but in 40 years of traveling and living here, I've never experienced or even heard of a case. Is this an urban legend?

What is my experience?
None.
I normally don't devote any grey matter to unpleasant life forms.
Do you, Beka?

Hello everyone!
Let's see where do I begin?

First, yes it was France and yes in Paris.

ckenb...funny you mention that. Our apartment owner said he'd never heard of bed bugs. I suggested he look on the internet and do his research because it is not to be taken lightly. I will acknowledge they exist everywhere! Not just in France, to be certain.

As for my grey matter I would have preferred not to have to devote my brain to it ever, but that doesn't change the reality and potential seriousness of the matter.

When we left Aix we trained to Gare d'Lyon and proceeded directly to our apartment. Our agreement included a lot of amenities not always found in apartment rentals but that were important to us. Internet service, washer, separate bedroom. Fees were to include everything we asked about. On the web-site cleaning was listed but we failed to ask specifically about it. We were told there would be no additional fees and wrongly concluded that it had been included. (foolish I know)

On our arrival we were met by a French woman who quickly rang the owner who spoke English quite well. We were then informed that we were to clean up after ourselves or pay 30euros (I think it was) for cleaning.

That in itself says a lot. Of course, a traveler who will not be returning soon and who chose not to stay in a hotel...will most likely not be in a hurry to be detailed. I'm sure that's not everyone but many. In a way, who could blame them? Especially if you did not enter the agreement with that information. At a glance it was clean enough I suppose, although the grime and old drip stains on doors, switches and cabinets left me grossed out. So, of course I spent the first hour trying to sanitize anything we would touch. (why do all the cleansers smell so strong!?! yikes!)

There were other things but moving on to the subject at hand...I failed to do as I usually do (don't ask me why) and did not lift the sheets. They appeared spotless (white). I did observe the upholstered headboard, flooring just under (where you step as you are about to get into bed) and along baseboards were pretty dusty. We folded and put up the bedspread.

My husband said it was good enough let's get to enjoying the place. I basically did.

The next morning we got up and dressed, etc ...were about to leave for the day...my husband got up to answer a cellphone call and I noticed something on the bed. While checking email etc we had all been sitting on the bed, so I was right there. I thought 'hmmm what's that' and picked it up only to realize it was a small bug. I walked into the bathroom where the best light was and placed it on the white counter. Now I could see it's mostly transparent body with a brown spot in the middle. It appeared to be sluggish. I got out my trusty camera and zoomed in on it. Instantly I new!

A quick search on the internet revealed pictures that confirmed it. We were in total shock!
Now I'm afraid to poke around too much but I lift my husbands pillow and there's a small blood stain I am certain was not there, when I lifted the pillows the night before. I look a bit more and find a couple of other specs that looked like broken bodies of the same kind of bug. I can't spot any bites on either of us.

Regrettably, our first instinct was to stay there anyway. The thoughts were...'we've already been exposed, we'll have to deal with it'....'let's get out of here and spend as little time in the apartment as possible'...'we have no where else to go'.

Our research suggested covering the mattress in plastic. Sorting clothing into garbage bags and sealing them...etc we thought we'd see about buying the plastic and bags. Trash bags easy....plastic dropcloths or sheeting...where in paris would you go for that?
In general we were trying to avoid the problem. As evening drew closer around 7pm....it was all we could think about again. Finally we all agreed to first call the owner and test the waters. We would calmly tell him what we found and see if he wanted to inspect or whatever.

You know, this is getting too long. I have to stop for now but you have a few details now.

These reports seem to come in waves, but generally it seems that, after years on the wane, there is a resurgence in this problem in the Western world. It can affect even very good hotels and scrupulously clean travellers, due to the sheer volume of travel and especially the increase to more exotic and varied destinations - those bugs can find themselves a round the world ride !.

My husband travels constantly for business, all over the world and in good hotels, but I now do take a quick check of his suitcase when he comes back in case something has clung on there.

What is unusual about Beka's report is that it is about a rental - most previous reports on this and other forums seem to refer to hotels/guesthouses which have a greater throughput and turnover.

Do I think France has a particular problem? - no, not more than anywhere else in the world.

Beka,

You have been very detailed in your description. However, it might be more beneficial for those of us renting apartments to know which rental agency was involved.

The newspapers periodically run stories on this and they mostly target hotels, some of them quite upscale. Apparently, these bugs can also transfer right on shipped luggage on planes, etc. so they can move globally.

Thanks for sharing but without knowing the agency this is more passing on your personal experience without real benefit.

To answer we found the apartment on 'Homelidays' Rental #102845 contact with owner directly.

To be fair I shall continue...
When I contacted the owner, while hubby searched for where to go...he was very understanding. I explained that we had discovered them in the morning and regret not calling him sooner, but that we felt we did not know where to go. He stated he had not heard of such a thing (bedbugs) and certainly not in France. I knew already that he had the use of a computer so I suggested (nicely) that he search the internet on the topic....that he was more than welcome to come immediately (he stated he lived nearby)to see for himself.
While I understood that it could happen almost anywhere, that he needed to know that it would cost a great deal of time and some espense to deal with the exposure and steps to not risk bringing them home. He suggested we buy bug spray, etc and I calmly told him it was my understanding that these methods did not work. He offered to come and switch out the mattress... we expressed that for us that was no guarantee of a solution.

He was agreeable in the sense that he stated he understood that we would not want to stay there and that he would refund our money for the unused time. I told him we would need time to pack up and find another availability and that I would call him back shortly.

Incidentally, we had these little disposable white cups with us and had drank water out of one. It was nearby and without thinking I dropped the bugs I had found in there. The whole one now appeared dead. When we returned that evening I realized there had been a couple of drops of water in there which was now becoming colored with blood likely from the broken remnants of bugs. He asked about the ones I saw and I left them out for him to observe.

When we talked to him later, he stated since the better part of a second day was gone that he would refund 4 out of the six days and our deposit a day later after his inspection. I could understand that but the tone seemed to have changed from the first conversation. His first comment on the second call was I see on the computer this is 'not such an easy thing to get rid of'...but that he was under no obligation to refund our money, that it was already kind of him to do the 2/3 refund, etc.

We took it and left.

Meanwhile we had bagged most of our clothes. As I had only washed a small (tiny washer) load the night before and had hung those up we considered those likely clean. Most moderately priced hotels were of course booked. We called several. We ended up in a very nice albeit VERY expensive (for 5 nights) hotel.

A couple of days later we had our deposit back and he stated he had the place inspected and all that was found was a couple of adult bugs and no nest yet. I'm not sure how that was so quickly determined but from what I have read on the subject...it seems they can nest almost anywhere. Even in peeling paint, furniture, headboards (upholstered), mattresses, floor boards etc. As I understand it even a 'treated' home needs regular inspections months apart to continue to observe for bugs.

I understand he feels that he has addressed the problem and may likely have been told it was taken care of. I for one would never go back. Even without the bedbugs.

Beka,
I looked up the ad of the apartment. Cleaning was listed under "additional services" as "cleaning service available". Even though in my experience most of the rentals I have used provide last-day cleaning for a fee, I see that the wording of the ad was ambiguous.

Now we know your whole bug experience. Yuck! Very sorry to hear.
Panda was right in that it is a curiously global problem hitting many hotels, including some very high-end ones. I have not heard such in France, but everything has a first, I guess.
Glad to know you ended up in the Mas Perreal, where I am sure you were treated right…

I found myself scratching whilst reading your post.

Elly

I have to say this is the first time I have ever heard of anybody suffering the ill effects of bedbugs. As I said, in 40 years of living and traveling in France, I have never heard anybody else who had the problem. It obviously can happen, but it's pretty rare, in my experience. Sorry it happened to you.

...and in case anyone should wonder...we did all we could to avoid spreading them around.

Before we left the apartment we garbage bagged all our dirty laundry and threw some things we wanted to replace anyway out...like undershirts.

On our arrival at our new hotel we removed the clothes we were wearing in the shower and bagged those before taking a shower.

Upon arrival home we went directly to our back deck. Thankfully we have a secluded back deck. We left all our luggage, purse, etc out there. Before entering the house we basically did the same thing we did at the hotel. Bag the clothes we were wearing and shower.

The pre-sorted and bagged clothes were never to touch the inside of our house at all. The bags were emptied directly into the washer and bags thrown in the outside trash.
They say you wash your clothes in the hottest water you can...we washed twice....then you dry your clothes on Hi heat and leave in an additional 2 hrs AFTER they are dry. We didn't think we'd have any clothes left. Surprisingly everything made it through with minimal shrinkage.

We threw out our luggage since it had been on the floor next to the bed. It was old anyway. We just thought, if we have to wonder each time we use it or refuse to bring it in the house...it's not worth keeping.

Anything we couldn't part with or wash was hand inspected piece by piece, seam by seam. Then, we vacuumed it thoroughly and wiped it down if we could, before shaking it out and bringing it inside. Thank goodness I use a lot of Ziplocs when I pack.

Paranoia? Probably. But when the alternative is possibly infecting our home and potentially having to replace carpet and furniture....it was worth it to us. Once that was done we could begin to relax.
Try doing all that when you're sick as a dog and have a fever...it's not fun.

Also, to be clear we went to Mas Perreal early in the trip and so it was in no way associated with or exposed to this mess.

I didn't mean to beleaguer (sp?) the subject.
Just wanted to finish it out for future reference for any who might be faced with it.

It was an unfortunate damper on our Paris trip. Could have happened anywhere and will not discourage us from further travel.

The falling dollar and having to pay more for the hotel and replacement of items discarded... added to the stress. It also affected our budget drastically for the remainder of the trip.

However, it's over now, we're moving on. It's unfortunate that it was such a large inconvenience during our trip. However, we pretty much saw what we had hoped to see. I could have sat under the Eiffel tower at night for hours. Other than I would have become increasingly irritated at the "Bling-Bling?!?" guys.

We know more about the areas we would like to stay in the future (hopefully) and learned some hard lessons.
*end of this topic*