Hosting the Olympics Games throws up all kinds of challenges, but this is new.
A plague of bedbugs is running rampant in Paris, and the chronic infestation is causing officials and local government major headaches ahead of next year's Olympics.
The blood-sucking insects have been spotted crawling around in the Paris Metro, high-speed trains, Charles de Gaulle airport, hotels, homes and cinemas.
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It was the uncomfortable talk of the town during Paris Fashion Week, which wrapped yesterday, and it seems nowhere in the city of love is safe.
Disgusted travellers have posted videos and images of the tiny insets on social media, and the problem is now so bad city officials have urged President Emmanuel Macron's government to help fight the infestation.
"Faced with the scourge of bedbugs, we must act!" Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said in a social media post last week.
"This is a public health problem where all stakeholders must be brought to the table. It is up to owners and insurers to cover the costs of getting rid of these pests."
The parasites feed on the blood of humans and other animals while they sleep, and tend to hide in mattresses and bed frames during the day.
People bitten can experience great discomfort and loss of sleep, and intense itching of the bites can result in secondary skin infections in severe cases.
They are tough to get rid of, too, with hardy adult bugs able to survive more than a year without a blood meal.
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The reddish-brown insects can be carried in clothing and luggage, when travelling or buying second-hand bedding, furniture and clothes.
It's not the first time Paris has been besieged by bedbugs.
A French government agency reported that between 2017 and 2022 more than one in 10 households were infested by bed bugs.
Extermination experts reported that 400,000 addresses, including hotels, apartments and houses, were treated in Paris in 2018.
