This April will be my first trip to France - Paris and the Normandy region. I was in Italy in July, and loved shopping the leather goods and gold...so what unique things should I be looking for in France? I am a "shopper" and look forward to bringing home uniqe gifts for friends and family. Help me!

how about a nice french man... seriously though, there is wonderful pottery native to Normandy. I purchased a couple of gifts in Rouen. There were several stores that sold it. One interesting style I saw was a cone-shaped vessel to hang on the wall and put flowers in it. You'll see these stores all over and each store seemed to have a different pattern and color. I found a wine shop that had unique bottle stoppers and they made perfect gifts. Even though I can buy this in the US (on QVC no less), I love to go into the L'Occitane stores and get their soaps, hand cream and bubble bath. The scents are wonderful and each time I use them I am reminded of Paris.

Check out a www.bparis.com.
It's a message board that specializes in Paris and it's environs, and people are very helpful in recommeding restaurants, shopping, hotels, etc.

those tiny little eiffel tower statues went over huge during christmas. they were 1 euro each and i made them into little ornaments.

i also love bringing home food stuffs (although my suitcase gets really heavy), like teas from mariage freres, and candy, tapenades and jams from the local markets or monoprix! and linens...

In Normandy, I bough a bottle of superior Calvados.
I went to a wooden shoe maker and bought a small carved pair for my wall.
And a few ceramic animals from a santonnier. In paris, there are so many wonderful unusual shops.

Great ideas...thanks! Speaking of food items...anything I CAN'T bring back to the U.S?

What about perfume?

Cheuvrant... exactly Perfume. Also, I make it an event of my trip to look for and purchase a little piece of artwork (this year is a water color entitled "A Day to Remember" and its really beautiful!)... I LIKE to shop the books, magazines, posters, art and stuff from the vendors along the Seine.

As for perfume, check out the Caron store in Paris, just off the Champs E. It's a lovely store with crystal decanters of perfume-very hoity area but nice salespeople who let you sniff away. Their perfume is reasonably priced too.

My wife bought a bottle of annick goutal that she absolutely loves. I agree with most of the other posts about bringing small foodstuffs like mustards, tepanades, olive oils etc. We did bring back a few bottles of wine and champagne but it does make the bags heavy.

I am the only woman who hates to shop BUT from France perfume (for yourself) is an absolute must !

1. A bottle of Banyuls.
2. A second bottle of Banyuls.
3. ...You get it...

Please, enlighten me on what is
annick goutal
A bottle of Banyuls ?
TY

Banyuls is a sort of fortified wine used as an apertif or dessert wine - a unique flavor but (to me) something like a cross between a ruby port and a slightly lighter, sweetish claret. It comes from Banyuls, a town near the slopes of the Pyrenees in Languedoc/Roussillon. Nice area to visit, BTW.

Banyuls is available in N. America at astronomical prices driven by lack of demand rather than cost, hence it's a good souvenir.

Annick Goutal is a brand of perfume. It is available at some stores in the US like Saks, Bergdorf Goodman & I would guess Neiman Marcus. Probably websites like sephora.com too. I have no idea about Banyuls so look forward to that answer. Perhaps a liqueur?

As to the original question, just keep your eyes out for things that look good. Isn't that what a "shopper" does S' There are certain cosmetic/hba items that aren't available in the US but I'm not up on what they are.

I'm also unclear on what food stuffs are acceptable & which aren't. I think anything canned or jarred would be ok. "Fresh" things like cheese, meat etc. are a problem.

We were told we could not bring French foie gras into US.

You can bring tins of foie gras back without a problem. Also, look into beautiful corkscrews from those lovely wine shops. I brought my Mom and sister some lavendar soaps and beautiful scarves back. I found a great dishtowel that had all the Paris monuments on it.

Hi

Meat of any kind or plants (including seeds)can't be brought back to the US. You can bring back tins of pate', olive oil, wine, cheese.

See http://www.stuttgart.army.mil/Commun...01/0605/us.htm

foie gras ??? Please ...

Tat, please what? Do you want to learn how to pronounce it so you can order it in France? Or are you planning to visit France without sampling one of their most famous cuisine?