Zelda recently complained about a large spider in her apartment.
A friend has just pointed out this article, in which scientists propose to test the claim that spiders hate horse-chestnuts (aka conkers), so putting a few horse-chestnuts on window-sills and in corners may help to deter the critters:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...ders-home.html
(Be careful: there is a picture of a spider.)
Incidentally, the horse-chestnut tree [Aesculus hippocastanumis] called Marronnier d'Inde in French, and there are a lot of them growing on the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin, and they should be producing nuts now.