Photo Chemistry in Eastern France?

[jnantz]

can anyone give me the name of a
good black and white chemistry shop in
eastern france? i will be staying
in a small place between montbeliard and besanson
this summer, and i will be processing a bunch of film
while i am there ( i hope! ). liquid fixer and print developer
is what i am going to be looking for. i don't want to deal with
bringing anything with me except for instant coffee, vitimin c and borax.

thanks in advance for your help.

john

[Nick_3536]

Fotoimpex last I looked ships within the EU for 10 Euros. Or are you looking for a shop to walk into?

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from Besançon, John
In the last few years I have always mail-ordered my photographic chemistry so I can't answer right now but I'll use the resources of our local Eastern-France Large Format group to give you an answer.
We have an informal gathering in south Alsace scheduled for April, 27, I'll raise the point to the group.
Taking into account that Basel, Switzerland is the Home Town of Ciba & many chemical industries, I would be suprised if we do not find anything within one hour drive or one hour by train (if you are on foot this summer) from Montbéliard, France

[jnantz]

hi nick and emmanuel.

if the drive isn't too far, i would be able to drive / train.

thanks !
john

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

In Europe the number of street shops with a good assortment of classical photo paper & chemistry has shrunk like in many other countries. No surprise.
Most LF aficionades I know in France use mail order or Internet order. But since I know them thanks to Internet groups, I have no idea of how people without Internet and doing B&W and conventional darkroom get their supplies !
So the question raised by John is a real question for European or overseas friends coming to France or Europe in general and looking for traditional photographic supplies.
It happens that the place where John will stay is within one hour drive of the Swiss and German borders. So beyond what we can still find in Eastern France, this expands the possibilities to find a reasonably stocked street-shop, e.g. in nearby Germany where the "Foto" market has always been much more important than in France.
Ans yes, the language barrier exists but English is well understood in German shops .
And French for which I assume John is reasonably fluent is understood in many parts of Switzerland. If not : English will be ;-)
So he'll be able to find a "working" solution and a "reserve" solution

[Clement Apffel]

hi john, hi everyone.

I used to buy photo chemistry in a PHOX shop in Dijon.
not that far away from Besançon (around 100km, 1h driving)

Here are the info about that shop :

Phox Grillot Darbois
24, rue Bossuet
21000 Dijon

phone : +33 (0)3 80 30 45 80

I suggest you call them before you go there to make sure they still sell what you need.
Because the last time I went there was 5 years ago.

But I'll keep looking if there is some shop selling such things around that area.

see you around.

regards,