Should either of them be francophone in addition to francophile, a cool (and incredibly inexpensive) option is French comic books. Known as &quot;bandes dessinees&quot; (&quot;BD&quot; for short), they offer lots of insight into French popular culture and politics. And since they're comics you don't have to be incredibly great in French to figure them out. <BR><BR>One of my favorites is Claire Bretecher (Belgian, actually, but then so are many of the greats). You can also find things like the Simpsons in translation. You can find things like the Simpsons and Spirou at a journalists; for Bretecher you'd go to a book store or a BD specialist.

Try www.chezclarisse.com. Lovely giftware and foodstuffs.

Thanks so much for all this great advice! I now have enough ideas for a decade's worth of presents (and a few things for myself too!) Wonderful suggestions - much appreciated.

top

Go to www.fromages.com. They have wonderful cheeses and wines which they will ship overnight express from Tours at very reasonable prices.