Amen Sophie! Thank you.

Hi. I will be spending two weeks in Provence very soon, having booked and made my arrangements through Untours. There will be a contact person and his wife who live in the vicinity, and a couple who will be my actual 'landlords'. I am assuming that I will need help from each of them from time to time, probably quite a bit. And on that assumption I bought a couple of small books of photos of California (which is where I'm from), to give as a souvenir 'thank you'. That seems perfectly ok to me; I would certainly love to get such a gift from a traveler visiting So. Calif. if I had the opportunity and need to help them out on an ongoing basis.

I tend to agree with those who don't see the necessity or appropriateness of giving little gifts to people you run into casually or just once, etc. But in the case of a two-week personal relationship, it seems perfectly appropriate.

Regards,

Sandyh

I would say : why not? I would tend to say : do the same you'd be comfortable doing in your own country.

If I met some random foreigner and we spend some time hanging together, and he handed me say, a postcard from his homeplace as a souvenir, I might appreciate it. I suppose someone else could throw it in the nearest garbage can.


For the anecdote, once, a japanese tourist who had asked me for directions put in my hand a 10 francs coin. I felt offended, withdrew my hand, and the coin felt on the ground. We looked at each other and parted away in opposite directions, leaving the coin on the paement.

flanneruk
Same message holds true for you. If you don't like my post, ignore it. I don't have time to read your stupidty.

What strange answers, I bring presents to the B&Bs that we return to because, they have been generous after a few stays and became friends. They always bring out the bottle of Pastis, knowing I enjoy it there, more than in the states. Those we have met on an encounter and have been invited to their homes, we always brought a bottle or two. The only time that was a mistake when the couple who ran A B&B
was the husband who was a wine snob. But he waS AN aMERICAN. tHE fRENCH WOULD NOT LET YOU KNOW THE WINE WAS NOT TO THEIR LIKING. sORRY KEYS STICKING AGAIN.

It's a great idea and something people from Hawaii would always do. I would take something special from your area. Maybe jam or candies etc.

In reference to Normandy and the gift we gave them in 1944...Lets not forget the gift they gave us during the American Revolution! RC- Because I have become a frequent patron of a few family owned stores, restaurants, and hotels in Paris, I do bring them gifts from the states or flowers when I go to Paris. And I think I need to send flowers to Dave in Paris for all the help he has given.

First concerning Normandy: I always cry when I think of that which an American (forget who) said at the Normandy landing "Lafeyette, nous sommes ici!" (Lafeyette, we are here; referring to the help that Lafayette brought to the colonies allowing us to win the revolution.
Now for gifts: If I am going to stay for many days at a B&B, (or with a family as we did one year in Jamaica with Servas-international association founded at the end of WWI by conscientious objectors to foster world peace...by having people visit each other for 3 days), being from the SF Bay Area, we brought small cable cars for their Christmas trees or book shelves, and even more compact letter openers made of redwood (scraps; no trees killed). Everyone loved them because they were unique and from our home. However, when visiting Cuba, we had been told in advance to bring ball point pens for the kids in the streets, which now seems a bit shaming to me. However, the cosmetic samples (the small sizes) I collected from friends before my trip and miscellaneous things I brought for myself, were tremendously appreciated by the people who had become real friends. I remember best that Castro's translator (who also translated my husbands paper that he delivered at a Hemingway conference, legally approved by the U.S.) was thrilled by the new lipstick that wasn't my color, and another translator who cried when I gave him my bottle of Advil, because his mother had arthritis and couldn't get meds. So...it all depends, and also depends on your good heart and non-condecending attitude.

Several years ago, I went to a language school in Villefranche-sur-Mer. The pupils liked to hangout at a bar owned by a French lady who treated us well, even corrected our French. I noticed that she collects auto license plates. After returning home, I mailed her a couple from different states. I would love to go back and check them out.

Ten years ago I spent 2 weeks in Tours at a language school, and at my last lunch there with my class of 8, a young fellow from So. Korea gave me a pretty paper fan and a key chain. He was studying there for an extended period of time, and evidently he had brought enough of these types of "trinkets" to give to folks he got to know. I was quite touched.