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i was recently overseas and thought i would
try my hand at buying my kitchen shelf ingredients there.
i figure i would let others know what i got and where i got it incase
they wanted to make coffee-based developers there but didn't know where to find
what they would need ...
i was near the swiss border near montbeliard / belfort.
last year i went to montbeliard and belfort searching for developer and fixer ...
i found one shop that had photochemicals ( out of maybe 10 ? ) but in the end i realized
i didn't have the time or whatnot to process anything
so i waited until i got back to the states.
this year, i was going to be there for a bit more time,
and so i looked for what i needed ...
the fixer seemed like it might be easy to find.
i went to swimming pool supply places and looked for the chemical to lower the PH,
but none of them said sodium thiosulphate, or anything similar,
so i ventured back to belfort and bought ilford super fix ....
my developer was at the local grocery store and pharmacy.
the local supermarket had cheep gut-rot instant coffee " gringo " brand
vitimin c and washing soda were expensive, special orders at the pharmacy.
the vitimin c cost 1.5 what it costs me here in the states ( same in euros, but weak dollar),
unfortunately, pharmacy grade sodium carbonate, costs 4x as much
as cheap grocery store washing soda here in the states, 35$ for 1kilo!
i tried to find an alternative source, like a grocery stores, super and hypermarkets,
picked a few brains but no place had it or even knew what it was
- so the pharmacy was where i went ...
it wasn't hard to find these ingredients, and kind of fun ordering
things from the corner pharmacy, and it cost the same as
it would have cost to ship across the atlantic.
even though it was fun buying it locally,
next time i will bring my laundry detergent with me ...
try my hand at buying my kitchen shelf ingredients there.
i figure i would let others know what i got and where i got it incase
they wanted to make coffee-based developers there but didn't know where to find
what they would need ...
i was near the swiss border near montbeliard / belfort.
last year i went to montbeliard and belfort searching for developer and fixer ...
i found one shop that had photochemicals ( out of maybe 10 ? ) but in the end i realized
i didn't have the time or whatnot to process anything
so i waited until i got back to the states.
this year, i was going to be there for a bit more time,
and so i looked for what i needed ...
the fixer seemed like it might be easy to find.
i went to swimming pool supply places and looked for the chemical to lower the PH,
but none of them said sodium thiosulphate, or anything similar,
so i ventured back to belfort and bought ilford super fix ....
my developer was at the local grocery store and pharmacy.
the local supermarket had cheep gut-rot instant coffee " gringo " brand
vitimin c and washing soda were expensive, special orders at the pharmacy.
the vitimin c cost 1.5 what it costs me here in the states ( same in euros, but weak dollar),
unfortunately, pharmacy grade sodium carbonate, costs 4x as much
as cheap grocery store washing soda here in the states, 35$ for 1kilo!
i tried to find an alternative source, like a grocery stores, super and hypermarkets,
picked a few brains but no place had it or even knew what it was
- so the pharmacy was where i went ...
it wasn't hard to find these ingredients, and kind of fun ordering
things from the corner pharmacy, and it cost the same as
it would have cost to ship across the atlantic.
even though it was fun buying it locally,
next time i will bring my laundry detergent with me ...
It's pretty cheap, 50p/1kg (~$1/2.2lbs). Maybe you want to check the shipping rate of UK to France next time, shouldn't be as bad as having to ship in from the states. I don't mind sending you a bag triple wrapped in plastic bags and boxed up 
No customs forms to fill out for me either because it's inter-EU shipping.