judyjay

My two teenage daughters will be staying with a French family next summer for a week to see and experience the south of France. We'd like to give them a gift of appreciation from our home in the United States. Any suggestions?

ira

Hi judy

Picturebook of your hometown. Tee shirts for kids. Special crafts or foods from your hometown. Native American arts and crafts.

S_F_E

I like to take a nice "coffee-table" type book of photographs of my state(city/region) to share with people. It's something that is probably not readily available where the hosts live (OK, anything is available online, but you know what I mean - they probably wouldn't just happen across a picture book of Oregon, say, or wherever, in their trips to the local bookstore in the south of France). In my experience, such a book generates a lot of discussion, explanations, and sharing of stories, and hosts generally love to "see" your home territory just as you enjoy seeing theirs. I can't tell you all the wonderful conversations I've had that started by looking over a book like that with people who may be unfamiliar with your part of the States.

The kids can supplement the book with a few photographs of their house, neighborhood, school, pets, etc. for a "customized" view of their part of the world. Anyway it makes for a real two-way exchange of glimpses into each others' lives.

monpetit

As french, I would appreciate effectively T shirts for the childrens and overall for the parents a typical
craft of the state you leave : especially patchwork or wooden crafts...
A book on the state can be appreciate but it can be found in France so
a craft is the best item...
Erik.

judyjay

Thank you all very much for the great ideas. Now I have a starting point when I do my shopping.