I wasn't going to post anything until I read this part:
I accept death as a means of keeping the track credibility of this frame without hesitation.
*highfive
If I were in your shoes I'd check out the facilitator thread in C&V and see if you can work out a deal wherein someone in the US buys the cogs you want, you reimburse them for the cost+shipping/time to your location. This seems very common for inter-US and US-Canada deals, not sure if US-Euro facilitation is ever really done.
I'd recommend All-City cogs. They're forged and last a long time. I wore out a 17t cog at around 12,000 km. Which seems pretty good to me.
ETA: I just look on ebay.fr and it appears you can get all city cogs for 13€-17€ + 3€ shipping? Am I missing something?
http://www.ebay.fr/sch/i.html?_trksi...at=0&_from=R40
Also, if you're running a 47t chainring I would stop at 19t for the cog. You will absolutely hate 20t/21t for anything. Look at this thread for inspiration; tips:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-Gear-Bicycle