You could also take freeze-dried or regular dried blueberries with you, as they're hard to come by in France. That's the one item (besides brownie mix) that our French friends ask us to bring for them.

I regularly carry fruit or carrots with me on flights to Europe so I have something to eat on the plane if there are delays or the airplane meals are inedible. No little dogs sniffing the luggage the way there are at the luggage carousels in the international arrivals area in Boston. No forms to fill out asking if you are bringing food into the country. Just walk through the "nothing to declare" exit through customs.

Janisj, there are 3 in my family and we are taking only one carry on and may be a backpack (if my son wants to take one) so we can most certainly carry the box.
Thank you, kerouac and flanneruk for your comments. I will plan on taking a box.
Nikki, I am so glad to hear you do this on a regular basis.
Avalon, I will check out the Richard Lenoir market, thanks. I will definitely need more fruit... a 5 lb box of blueberries will only last us a couple of days.
Cathies, raspberries are not as appealing to me but I will be looking for other fruit for sure in Paris.
Underhill, I am only interested in the fresh ones since they are not available the rest of the year and these are UNIQUE.

I've walked through with fruits in my knapsack without problems many times. The one time I declared was in Australia because I didn't eat one of the snacks I'd brought with me (an orange) and the Aussie customs guys looked at me as if I'd insulted their mother before tossing it into a special (e.g., declared fruit) bin.

So, get some tupperware-ish stuff and bring the bleuets.

Adrienne -- you need to get blueberries from the northern U.S. or California. If they're from south of the Mason-Dixon line, they suck. I'm in Texas and I have to wait out the Texas blueberry season in early to mid-July to get good ones. Michigan, Maine, Washington, Oregon, California have good ones. The ones from Chile in U.S. winter months are often good too.

As for flanner's ignorant diatribe -- the simple fact is that US agriculture has been threatened by introduction of foreign matter (from fruit fly issues to plant parasites, and more). Transoceanic transport of foreign matter is a great concern for the US (and the Americas) and Australia because of the separate development of their ecosystems from the rest of the world.

Just mention "cane toad" to any knowledgeable Aussie and they'll understand the importance of import controls on agricultural products and foreign fauna.

It is somewhat amusing for a European to complain about American bureaucracy, though . . .

You do have those sniffin' dogs occasionally when you get to Dublin or Cork airport. But they are not interested in blueberries but.. hum.. herbs and stuff ;)

My biggest concern would be that some of those blueberries got on my clothes on the plane. And the first thing I had to do in Paris would be looking for a laudromat. But hopefully you are not as clumsy as I am. :)

If you went to the Vosges mountains area, you would find unlimited blueberries at the village markets when they are in season.

And also in the Perigord (Dordogne) where I buy lots every summer,and explain to the usually amazed sellers that they are a specialty of the frozen North (Ontario) where I come from!

Frankly, I can't imagine having to worry about 5 pounds of fruit along with all the other hassle at an airport. Then having them in a hotel room until they're eaten. Not my choice

Blueberries freeze really well.

Cowboy 1968 made an excellent point. It would be very nice for your fellow passengers if you didn't bring them. It would certainly ruin someone's day if one accidently dropped into the seat and the next passenger occupying that seat ended up with it on their clothes.

<i>Spaarne, the whole point of asking a question on this forum is to determine whether one can do what one wants to do. If I had wanted to sit and home and eat fruit, I would have done just that. Don't need YOU to tell me that. And since this is my first trip to Paris or Europe for that matter, I have no way of knowing that "France is over run with fruit".</i>

LOL. Lighten up.