Love France but hate the bl**dy mosquitoes! Any tips?

[chipmonkey]

In a nutshell, we went to the Camargue, stayed in a great campsite, kids loved the pool with waterslides etc, loved the food, wine etc but in the second week dh was eaten alive by mosquitoes, despite using sprays on our bodies, different sprays for the mobile home itself, plug-in things that emitted a smell and a horrible smoky citronella candle. After reading up on it it seems that the Camargue is one of the worse areas for mosquitoes, has anyone any experience elsewhere in France? I do think that maybe dh gets a worse reaction to the bites than the rest of us but his legs look like he has chicken pox!

Anywhere that is flat and marshy like the Camargue is going to be awful I think chipmonkey. We got badly bitten in the flatlands NE of Paris (Chantilly, Senlis) etc a good few years ago.
I guess the best tip is to avoid the hotspots. You don't get mozzies in the Pas de Calais etc but then...you don't get the gorgeous hot sunshine of the South either.
I think alas you were possibly in the worst place in France though - all those lagoons etc

We did notice that it got a lot worse after it rained one day. Before that we got little or no bites.

Mountains also way better. Auvergne, the Vosges, the Jura, plus of course the Alps and the Pyrenees - all gorgeous

Not everyones cup of tea but apparently if you eat marmite every day before you go, it helps to keep them away.

I get very bad aggressive reactions to mosquitos, for example I was in Lille, France in May 2003 and got 2 bites on my face in the night and I woke up and literally looked like I had been battered as one side of my face was so swollen to the point it could burst!! I once had a bite on my right hand finger in Greece, summertime and my whole hand was so sollen I couldnt bend my fingers even a millimetre!! So many other stories and am honestly not exagerating.

It depresses me as its so painful no matter what i do for prevention or aftercare. This year I went to Avignon in July, South of France and did a lot of research, some people swear by marmite, or vitamin B complex tablets. I took vitamin B tablets a month before going and I didnt even get one tiny bite - MIRACLE!! Also bought a mosquito net for bed (£6 from Boots) which meant I could sleep in peace.

Dh made such a face when I told him about the Marmite!He's one of the "I Hate Marmite" crowd! The Vit B complex sounds like it might be a winner though!

Chipmonkey - atleast your dh cant turn his nose up to the vitamin b tablets! just a warning i bought some from Holland and Barrett and they make your wee really bright yellow and the tablets are huge. I am crap at swallowing large tablets and found smaller ones from boots chemist with no yellow wee......