happy53

I will be staying in Paris for 1 week in April. This will be my first holiday there. Does anyone have any suggestionas to where I can buy souvenirs that aren't too expensive and are also lightweight. As I would like to buy for family and friends back home.

surfmom

My kids brought home little Eiffel Tower keychains for their friends. They also brought back pencils that are their favorites.

The one cautionary thing I will throw out is to not buy them on the bridge over the Seine in front of the Eiffel Tower or at the top of the Trocadero. They are unlicensed vendors and while I don't remember the details or the politics, you are better off buying from inside the Eiffel Tower.

adrienne

There are lots of souvenir shops on the left side of Notre Dame. You can buy scarves, pashminas, etc. that are easily packable.

Suzanne2

Lots of shops on Rue Di Rivoli across form the Louvre. For some reason I usually end up buying souveniers in the Galleries Lafayette depatment store. They have a large selection of things. We eat lunch in the cafeteria and stock up on gifts afterwards. Sort of one stop shopping. Saves time. They have a gourmet food store upstairs in the men's store. You can get things like mustard, tea, coffee, and cocolates. thies things make great gifts too. Hediards is where I go for goodies for my very special friends and myself.

elnap29

Last time we were there, we realized our shopping would be limited by our small carry-on bags. So we went into art and stationery stores and selected some fun greeting cards, all in French, of course! (These shops were near the Sorbonne, but they are everywhere).

MNsnowflake

For myself, I like to buy earrings ($20-50) -- every time I wear them I think of Paris. And they take up no space. Food items such as chocolate, tea, mustard, etc. are good too. I do like to bring Euros home with me for the next trip, but if I have some euros to spare, I might buy some last minute assorted candy bars for a small gift for my sweets-loving friends. I like to cook, so I sometimes get kitchen items. On several trips I've bought decorative trays -- they pack easily at the bottom of a suitcase.

surfmom

Another thought is BHV - the department store near Hotel de Ville. I had fun wandering around and one of the random things that my kids love is the skeleton keys - they play house all the time and now they have their own cool keys and key ring!

Another thing is in the stationary department of BHV - they have neat little notebooks and journals that are inexpensive but a fun souvenir, too.

Suzanne2

There have been instances when we just had no time to shop. I ended up getting some pretty good stuff at the shops in the airport.

Gretchen

Do what you can when you see it, but don't obsess about it. Someone mentioned the stationery idea. Museum shops have beautiful post it notes and journals. If you have women on your llist, look at scarves at Monoprix. BUt you may have a bit of sticker shock, and just curtail your list.
A really good chocolate bar--buy it at the supermarket. Or some dried mushrooms for foodie friends.

Michel_Paris

Since I always end up on Ile St Louis...The main street there has a wine store, cheese store, chocolate store, store with neat funky items, store with sweet smelly stuff.
If you want stuff with Paris 'on it', rue de Rivoli has the mass produced stuff. My last trip I bought some of those Eiffel towers near Place st Michel.

pauljagman

You can always find a gift shop at any Museum you may visit in Paris. Just use your imagination when you are walking down the CE. There's lots of knick knacks and gizmos you can pick up. The little Eiffel Tower key chains are tacky but maybe your family will like them. Bon voyage!

catcrazyaf

I always stock up on tea cloths/dishtowels from wherever I am in Europe (for me and for my friends). So lightweight and, of course, unbreakable. Every time I see my Paris ones hanging in my kitchen it takes me right back there and makes me smile.

europeannovice

We bought post cards at the Louvre gift shop and silk scarves at the shops on Rue di Rivoli. We had very little time to shop on our first trip because we wanted to cover the "must sees". Next time we have to make time for shopping but we managed to pick up a few things. The scarves were a big hit!

europeannovice

Forgot to add the scarves were inexpensive at the small kiosks. Another well received item was Arc de Triomphe erasers.

Guenmai

I buy cloth or vinyl grocery bags from the various supermarkets. I also buy tea towels. That is something that the few people that I pick up something for will appreciate and use. I also go to either Monoprix, Galeries Lafayette, or Printemps, and buy women's caps. I buy the caps for older people as they like to wear them at night to keep the chill off, even though it's not that cold here in L.A. There is usually a very good selection of different style knitted or felt-type caps in Paris.

I have been bringing back tea towels, almost annually, for one of my former aides, for about 15 years now. and she still has them all. One time I brought her back some chocolates instead and she looked at the box and said, in a whiny voice, "Where's my tea towel?". We cracked up laughing and still go into laughing hysteria about it. After that I went back to tea towels. We became good friends due to our work experience together. Happy Travels!

happy53

Thanks everyone for the fantastic tips. I'm looking to buy lingerie and scarves also for my work colleuges. Are there any markets in Paris that I could go to, without spending a fortune?

jonesie

Just wanted to say I LOVE the idea of skeleton keys. I think I might have to get that for the girls and their cousins!
We always pick up an ornament. And if I can't find an ornament, we turn a keychain we like into an ornament-- always a fun way to reminisce about all of our travels. We have often used tea towels and gifts, and also peruse the grocery aisles-- fun stuff to be found, and also chocolates!

Monoprix is probably the most reasonably priced dept store, and should have lingerie and scarves, if memory serves!

Oie

Small and inexpensive ideas: small kitchen gadget (i.e. cake icing tip) from E. Dehillerin, small bags of fleur-de-sel, nougats, small soaps, lavender sachets, died herbs, and small items from La Vaisselleries (4 or 5 locations). Enjoy your trip.

laurie_ann

I like music CDs. Sometimes jazz, classical, contemporary, whatever I think people's taste might be. Calendars are also good. Art museums usually have nice ones.

laurie_ann

I like music CDs. Sometimes jazz, classical, contemporary, whatever I think people's taste might be. Calendars are also good. Art museums usually have nice ones.