Week 2

It’s hard to believe we have been in France for two weeks now. Although it was a fairly rough start with most of the family becoming ill, we’ve managed to settle in nicely and life in France is starting to be more like we had imagined. I’m still getting through some sinus issues and a nasty cough, but have managed to get to work for the second week and I’m attempting to be as productive possible.

After last weeks blog post our air shipment arrived from Colorado, which was a welcome site that brought with it a number of items that has made living a bit more comfortable. We packed a box about the size of a large US refrigerator back in late January with as many items as we could jam into it, including a box of toys for each of the kids, school materials, books, ski bags (clothes, boots, helmets, gloves, etc), several computers, an xbox, games, linens, kitchen items, etc.  With the arrival of our Mac Mini, we have now expanded the number of tv shows and movies available for viewing, which has made the kids quite happy.

The arrival of some of our electronics brought with it a new issue, voltage incompatibility. France uses 220V, where as the US uses 110V, and the frequency is also slightly different with France at 50HZ and the US at 60HZ. What this means is that even with an adapter, if you plug a US device into a French plug, you can very easily fry or burn up the device. Luckily the majority of new computers, including most Apple products, are dual voltage, which means with an adapter they work in both the US and France. But, we did bring with us a number of items that aren’t dual voltage such as our HP printer, xbox360, wii, computer monitor, etc. In order for these 110v devices to work you have to plug them into a voltage transformer.

For some reason, I thought it would be easy to pick up a voltage transformer in France, but I was wrong. First, it is hard to find any US products here. Second, I’m finding at electronics and hardware stores, very few people speak good English and I don’t speak much French yet.  Third, a voltage transformer isn’t exactly a common item and trying to discuss a niche item with a language barrier makes it even tougher. So, after visiting a number of stores in the area including Ulbaldi, Castorama, and Leroy Merlin, and not finding anything close to a 220 to 110 voltage transformer, I decided to take a look online.

It is very easy to find voltage transformers online, the issue is getting them to France. I’ve recently learned that most US companies, even dot coms, don’t ship to an address in France- something I didn’t know before now. One of the few companies that will ship internationally is Amazon.com. You can easily buy a new 1000w transformer on Amazon.com for $60, but the shipping ends up costing approximately $150 and then another $50 of import fees are added to the total. This brings the total cost of a $60 voltage transformer to $260.

It turns out that the best option for buying a voltage transformer (that I have found so far) was Amazon.UK.  I found a 500w Power Bright voltage transformer for £44.99 with shipping costs of £21.83, which totals to be about $110 US. Still not the best deal, but better than paying $260 to get it from the US.  My advice to anyone moving abroard, buy your voltage transformer in the US before you move and you’ll save a lot of money. Also don’t forget to buy US 110v power strips to go with your transformers. Typically the transformers have one or two outlets and you will more than likely need more than that.

One of the things I have learned in the two weeks I have been in France is that a task that may have taken a quick 30 minutes or an hour in the US (going down to home depot and buying an item), can easily turn into a multi day research project and ultimately weeks before the item you need is in your hand. In the case of the transformer, I spent at least a day researching the best options, another half a day driving around and visiting stores, and another 10 days waiting for the item to arrive at the house. It’s been more than a week since I ordered the transformer now and I still haven’t received it, which means the kids haven’t been able to play xbox and April hasn’t been able to make copies or print from our printer.

Read the full blog post at ayearinFrance.com