When preparing your trip to France, don’t forget to do a little research and pack the right adaptors and or transformers for your travel appliances. Otherwise you will get yourself into trouble and blow up your appliances.

Firstly, you need to understand the terminology. Adaptors are simple devices which allow you to connect one plug into an electric plug which has a different shape. You can get adaptors for American to European, English to European, Australian to European and vice versa – basically any combination for different shaped plugs. You can even get expensive adaptors to plug in anywhere in the world.

Adaptors are light in weight. These are not to be confused with transformers (also called converters) which modify the characteristics of the current which is input in your appliance. Transformers or converters are usually much bulkier and heavier than adaptors as they have a metal coil in them.

Transformers are not adaptors. The tricky part is that some transformers can also be adaptors at the same time if the terminal is adapted for a different shaped foreign socket.

Before you fly off you need to think aboutconsider plug differences. The electrodes (terminals) on an American plug are flat. The electrodes on all French plugs are cylindrical. All french wall outlets only accept these cylindrical plugs. You won’t be able to plug your flat American plug into a regular French socket unless you use an adaptor. The United Kingdom also has flat plugs and English tourists also need adaptors. Adaptors are simple devices which allow you to connect your appliance into a plug with a different shape than the country where you purchased your appliance.

If you need to buy yourself a cheap adaptor you should be able to find inexpensive ones at your local hardware store. It might be prudent to telephone first before driving down to the hardware store. If you are lucky you will be able to pick up an adaptor at a market for around £1. If you still can’t find one anywhere, you can usually buy them at an inflated price at the airport or the ferry port or the eurotunnel terminal – but you will pay about three times more.

Adaptors come in all shapes and forms. The most expensive sophisticated ones also allow you to plug your devices anywhere in the world. I paid 9 euros for a European to Worldwide adaptor at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais.

Next you need to consider the power voltage differences. England has 240 volt standard power like France. European power typically comes out of the electrical outlets at 230-240 volts. 2Europe has over twice the voltage of America where the standard volts is 110. If you plug a 110 volt American appliance into a French socket with an adaptor and no converter or transformer you will blow it up. You can get electric shavers and other appliances rated to operate at between 110 volts and 240 volts, which will not blow up when you plug it in a French socket.

If you want to take your laptop, portable CD player,portable CD player, laptop, digital camera, cell phone, electric shaver, or any electrical appliance and their chargers you must first look at the voltage they supports.

If your appliance comes with a converter , a small device which converts a 110 volt current into a 9-12 volt current, you also need to check its input voltage. The label should state which voltage it accepts. If it states ‘110 Volts’, that is not good enough. You will burn both converter and appliance when you plug them in a European or a Frech socket.

You should only pack appliances that work in the 110-240 volt power band, or at a low voltage of 9-12 volts with a transformer (or converter) that supports an input voltage of 240. You need a converter which accepts the 110-240 volt range.

Good news – Transformers for laptops are normally rated to work at 100-240 volts. But make sure you check it first. If your laptop only operates at 110 volts, go to your local computer store, and buy a suitable multi-voltage converter for your specific model. Similarly you will need to check the labels on the battery chargers for mobile phones and digital cameras and the labels on the transformers which come with them. Some battery chargers will accept the higher 240-volt current, some won’t.

Hairdryers usually consume a large amount of power in order to produce the heat to dry your hair. If yours does not operate at between 110 and 240 volts, you will have to buy a transformer and these are normally quite bulky. My advice is to call the hotel first to check whether they provide blow-dryers in the rooms. If they do travel light and leave your hairdryer at home.

Now you [spin]are|are thoroughly{/spin] prepared you can sit back and enjoy your French vacation. Remember there is more to France than Paris. The Loire Valley 2 hours south of Paris is incredibly popular and defiitely worth an extended visit.

We run a luxury french wedding castle in the Loire Valley near Blois, for up to 36 people perfect for a fantastic french castle wedding with family and friends and for unwinding and touring historic castles and vineyards,. It is a fairytale wedding castle venue.