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Paris cinema apologises after customers complain of bedbug infestation

A popular French cinema chain has issued an apology after customers in Paris were bitten by bedbugs while watching movies.

Published: 5 September 2023 17:21 CEST
Paris cinema apologises after customers complain of bedbug infestation
A member of staff vacuums the stairs of a movie theatre at cinema in Paris (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

In some Paris cinemas, the horror has happened off-screen.

The UGC Bercy cinema in Paris has apologised after cinema-goers took to social media to complain about being bitten by bedbugs while watching films. 

One Parisian, Nawal, posted on Twitter that the UGC theatre in Paris’ 12th arrondissement was infested with bedbugs, along with an image of the bites she allegedly received while watching a film. 

On Monday evening, the UGC cinema group published a press release apologising to all victims of bedbug bites.

The group said that they had put emergency procedures into place following bedbug reports, which include canine detection for the presence of bugs, following a high-temperature steam treatment to kill the insects and another canine inspection to verify that the bugs were killed.

UGC also said that “it can be difficult to identify the origin of a bedbug bite” and that the scourge of bedbugs can affect all locations servicing the public.

There have also been reports in some of the Paris MK2 theatres as well, in part due to the fact that cinemas represent an ideal place for bedbugs due to temperature controlled rooms, darkness, and fabric-covered chairs. 

READ MORE: How to avoid bedbugs when visiting France

On top of that bedbugs can be very difficult to detect, as they are quite small – around the size of an apple seed. They typically only come out in the dark, hiding inside mattresses, box springs and in clothing. Females can lay up to five eggs a day, usually in small, hidden, dark places.

Bedbugs have become more common in recent years, both in France and across the world, in part due to an increase in travel, as well as bedbugs becoming resistant to common insecticides.

A recent study by the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety found that approximately 11 percent of French households between the years 2017 and 2022 experienced a bedbug infestation. 

The study found that on average, the price of getting rid of a bedbug infestation comes out to €866. Added up, this meant that between 2017 and 2022, bedbugs cost households €1.4 billion, according to the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety. 

Some French politicians, including members of the left-wing France Insoumise party have called for a national campaign to eradicate bedbugs. 

For individuals, there are a few options for killing bedbugs, which include steam and chemical treatments. People can also place their items in extreme heat (eg. a dryer for at least 20 minutes) or in cold temperatures (eg. refrigerator for multiple days). 

When choosing a service, individuals should double check that the company has relevant accreditations, such as membership in the CS3A union or demonstration of the ‘Certibiocide’ which is a certification that government-verified training has taken place to handle toxic chemicals.

If the company offers canine detection services, you can ask whether or not they are qualified according to the standards of the ‘Union of experts in canine bedbug detection’ (Le Syndicat des Experts de Détection Canine de Punaises de Lit or SEDCPL).

READ MORE: Bedbugs, mice, and mould: How to handle infestations in your French home

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PARIS

‘Come back’: Champs-Elysees wants to win over Parisians

The Champs-Elysees, the iconic avenue sweeping through central Paris dotted with cafes and shops, connects the Place de la Concorde in the east with the Arc de Triomphe in the west in a single, breathtakingly straight line.

Published: 30 May 2024 08:37 CEST
'Come back': Champs-Elysees wants to win over Parisians

But one thing seems to be missing amid the throngs of tourists — Parisians themselves.

A true Parisian is rare on the Champs-Elysees, and as one local said, that is not really surprising.

“There’s no place for us — no garden, nowhere to sit,” Xavier LeBrun, 35, told AFP as he watched tourists stream past on the almost two-kilometre avenue during his cigarette break.

The Champs-Elysees is “where Parisians cross to get from one place to another, and that’s it”, he said.

A top tourist attraction, locals have gradually abandoned the Champs-Elysees over concerns that it is too noisy, dirty and expensive, with luxury brands replacing smaller, independent shops.

But that could change if a committee, eager to make the Champs-Elysees attractive to Parisians again, can make its voice heard.

‘Everyone was fleeing’

After five years of work the “Champs-Elysees Committee”, endowed with a budget of €5 million, this week listed 150 proposals including adding green spaces, reducing pollution, and organising cultural events to “revive” the famed avenue.

This handout photo obtained on May 27, 2024 courtesy of PCA-STREAM shows a computer-generated image of an aerial view of the Champs-Elysees district, with the Arc de Triomphe seen rear, transformed by the “Re-enchanting the Champs-Elysees” urban project in Paris. (Photo by PCA-STREAM / AFP)

The starting point for the Champs-Elysees Committee, an association of business and culture representatives, was the “alarming” realisation that the world-famous street was “no longer loved, no longer likeable, deserted by Parisians, and feared by foreigners”, reads the committee’s report.

“Everyone was fleeing,” they wrote.

A giant open-air picnic held on the avenue at the weekend was an example of how the committee plans to address the issue.

“It’s a way of telling Parisians: Come back to the Champs-Elysees,” committee chairman Marc-Antoine Jamet said.

With stores and historic cinemas closing along the avenue due to rising rents and falling sales, “innovation is an absolute necessity”, he said.

The 1,800-page plan seeks to reverse the decline while balancing the needs of locals and tourists.

The committee estimates the cost will be €250 million, but Jamet said the additional tax revenue generated by the changes would be enough to finance all or some of the project.

“These are not costs but investments.”

A self-proclaimed Paris “superfan” who has visited from Pakistan 22 times, 33-year-old Jawwad Channa said he always visits the Champs-Elysees, this time bringing along four friends looking forward to hitting the stores.

“It’s very crowded, but the shopping is amazing,” said his friend Ali Syed, 32.

Shopping will remain a mainstay, but central to the committee’s plan is adapting the avenue to global warming and reducing its carbon footprint by a third over 50 years, with plans to reduce traffic by increasing pedestrian space and doubling bike lanes.

‘Revamp the neighbourhood’

The committee also aims to lower the avenue’s average temperature by one to seven degrees Celsius, creating a “climate sanctuary” during the city’s increasingly common heatwaves.

Proposals include planting 160 trees, installing seating and fountains, and transforming 20 hectares of unkempt gardens into a “true Parisian park”.

Symphony concerts, a “quality” Christmas market and flower stalls are also part of a push for “year-round” cultural offerings to “revamp the neighbourhood”.

Sunday’s picnic, at which thousands turned out on the “world’s largest tablecloth”, came after an event last year when France’s brainiest bookworms battled it out in a mass spelling test at 1,779 desks set out along the avenue.

With France’s presidential palace and National Assembly nearby, security remains a concern, though the proposal includes plans to increase the police presence and establish a 24-hour “health and safety” watch.

“We are going to discuss this with all partners,” said Paris’s deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, adding that discussions would first take place with the police.

“The idea is Paris’s mayor could announce a broad outline in the second half of 2024,” Gregoire said.

Gabin Contentin, 21, said big changes were needed for him and other locals to be lured back.

But if all goes well, he predicted, the Champs-Elysees can “once again be the most beautiful avenue in the world”.

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