Anyone living in Europe?

angie_mitchell

Cathlete
Hi all,

I'm moving to France in the next couple of weeks and I was wondering if anyone around lives in Europe. I'm just curious as to whether or not I will be able to find some of the equipment I still need (high step, barbells, etc.). Any thoughts? There is no way I can have it shipped. If I order the high step, for instance, it costs $200 to ship it!

Thanks!
angie
 
I live in Germany

Hi Angie,

I live in Germany, but I'm affiliated with the US Military (my DH is active duty). Our address is technically a New York address so we rarely have any problems having items shipping to us. Do you know anyone who might be near you who can have stuff shipped to you low cost? How close will you be to the German border? Depending on where you live, larger stores might have more options or there might be more sporting goods stores available.
 
Angie, I can't help you, but I DO want to hear about France! :) Be sure and check in with us once you get settled in.

(The timing of this post is funny. I'm currently reading two books written by American women who moved to France.)
 
Angie, I can't help you, but I DO want to hear about France! :) Be sure and check in with us once you get settled in.

(The timing of this post is funny. I'm currently reading two books written by American women who moved to France.)

Me, too. France. Wow. You're living my fantasy.
 
Hi Angie,

I'm in Germany, but double-checked for you and one of my favorite sites will deliver to France. You can at least peruse their site and see what they have to offer. It's also translated to English (for the most part):

http://www.sport-tiedje.com/index.htm

As for the high step, I haven't seen many Club steps here, the most common step is the Reebok -- even at gyms. I did at one point find slanted risers in the UK, but they were pretty expensive, not including shipping.

For France specific, if your French is okay, you can try "google.fr", search for pages in France only and see what comes up.

Hope this helps and good luck with the move!!
Ramona
 
Thanks everyone! It's nice to know I'll have options. :)

I'm not sure how far we are from the German border. We're going to be in Arras, France (about an hour west of Brussels). I don't quite have my European geography down yet. :)

I wish I had purchased a barbell set before our movers came. I have never had one but have been using my Cathe DVDs at the gym for the past three weeks and it's been so nice to use a barbell. I didn't realize how much easier it would make those moves compared to dumbells. But, if I want one now, it has to be in kgs. :(

Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the high step. I still have a firm fanny lifter which generally functions quite well for that purpose. I'll continue to use that for a while.

I'm just excited because in our new house we're actually going to have a whole room dedicated to working out! Now I won't have to pull out my step/weights/ball, etc every time I want to workout. They used to be stored in the garage - what a pain! :)

OK... I'll keep you all posted on my adventures! Thanks again for the help!

angie
 
Even if you're in France, if your order is over €75, the shipping is free at Sport-tiedje and nominal otherwise.

I didn't bring a barbell or enough handweights, either, ordered them and had them shipped (poor delivery guy!).

One good thing about my handweights in kg -- I can get them in 1kg increments, so don't have the big leaps moving up in weight. I have pairs in 1-10 kg increments and can tailor the weight to the exercise much better.

Now that Cathe has changed her shipping method, if all you need is the topper (assuming you have risers), it would probably be light enough that the shipping wouldn't be TOO painfully expensive.

Ramona
 
Sorry

I'm a little late on this one, but you shouldn't have a problem getting almost any fitness equipment in France. A high step may be difficult since it's not a common tool.

You are close to Lille, which is the 4th(ish) largest city in France. There will be lots of sporting goods stores and sections of dept stores.

And guess what? There is a Decathlon in Arras!

Zone des Bonnettes
Route nationale 39
Rue de l'Origan
62000 Arras
Tel : 03 21 16 81 70
Fax : 03 21 16 81 71
Du Lundi au Samedi : 9h00 à 20h00

Love that place. Bought all of my equipment there when I lived in Spain (it's a huge intl chain). They have an online store, too.

German and British companies will also probably ship to you, they have the best selection of pretty much anything.

Hope you have a great time or are having a great time if you're there already! DH is French so don't hesitate to let me know if we can help with any info at all.
 
I am delurking to answer this. I live in Paris and most of my needs are covered by decathlon and sport-tiedje.com. Good service on this one. I recently ordered 2 kettlebells, shipping was 12 EUR and received them in 3 days.
For barbells and free weights Decathlon is a good source. Anything more specialized, you'll be better of at sport-tiedje or http://www.cress.oxatis.com/ (they are a lot onto functional fitness). You'll definetely be able to find cheaper stuff in Belgium, as well.
Feel free to PM me
 
Thanks so much for the info! I'm glad there is somewhere I can actually shop! That's encouraging!

The internet is such an amazing thing... :) I've found so much info about living there. I can't imagine doing this 15 years ago!

Thanks again!

angie
 

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