Need help with thank you gift ideas and etiquette
 

We have a friend who lives in the states, her family lives in Norway and they have a vacation home in the South of France.

She offered to let us stay at the vacation home which we have now arranged through her father to stay for 10 days.

A couple of questions:
1) Who do we send thank you gift(s) to?
-Do we leave something at the house not knowing when they will next be there?
-Send something to one OR both (again, she being in the states, her father being in Norway)?

2) I need gift ideas.


Also, while I'm at it, we will be stopping off to see friends in Switzerland and I'd like to bring something American for them. When they visited they brought a bag of chocolate truffles. I live in the NY/CT area. Any great ideas?

Thanks for any help!

Hi J,

I think you need one small gift to send to the friend in the US and a larger one to send to the parents in Norway who are letting you use their home.

I have no idea of what to send.
Ditto on the Swiss friends.

Bottle of wine from California?
Flowers are always welcome.

((I))

Thanks Ira--any other thoughts or ideas on what to send?

Is there a store near you that does gift baskets featuring items from your state? We live in Michigan and there is a store called something like "With love from Michigan" and they do great gift baskets.

Just a thought.

if you're going to ship something to Norway, *do not* ship alcohol!

That is a good idea about the gift basket. I'll have to check around. Maybe I can get some things from NYC.

I know shipping to Norway will be a fortune though...does anyone have a suggestion on a gift that might reduce the shipping costs (ie a company that has international locations so they can ship from those areas?) or any other ideas?

Also, any other input on the etiquette side of who to buy what for?

Thank you!

Zabar's in NYC makes up beautiful gift baskets including some with NYC inspired products - they are able to ship your gift anywhere safely and in a timely manner. Here is a link to their website:
http://tinyurl.com/f3al9
If you do not see what you have in mind or have questions call them at 800-697-6301

Great Margo--thank you!

You are most welcome

Unfortunately Zabar's doesn't ship internationally....
Any other thoughts on a gift to send to Norway and without spending a fortune on shipping?

Also...still looking for some input on the etiquette of who to send the gifts to.
Thanks!

I would send a thank you gift to all, plus leave something at the house. Whenever we get a freebie at someone's vacation home, we try to find something to leave at the house that others may enjoy, usually something that isn't at the house but would be nice to have due to the location. Some examples of things we have left - lobster pot, lobster crackers, and individual butter warmers for a place on the Cape, good lightweight portable beach chairs for a beach house, a hammock for a place in Maine. For my single male friends I leave a hair dryer for their future female visitors' and my own future use (o.k., not much of a gift, but definitely something useful). Maybe packing away half a case of good California wine (if permissible) in your bag to leave at the house? Could just wait until you get to the house, see what they don't have and buy it and leave it. For the family in Norway, Harry and David ships internationally.

As for the friends' gift - maybe a big coffee table book on a particular American city to entice them to visit (assuming, of course, that you want them to visit)? Do they have kids? I have a friend who took silly pajamas for her friends' kids on a visit to Spain and the kids loved them.

Good luck - I know how hard it is to find just the right gift, especially for such an offer!

AAGGHHH! I didn't know that - that's too bad, I thought it might be a good solution to your dilemma. Sorry

>> Any other thoughts on a gift to send to Norway and without spending a fortune on shipping?

It's not shipping that's a problem per se, it's the toll the receiver has to pay if the package is not a gift. It's usually not a problem if you send stuff from a private address but if it comes from a business address, you might have problems.

Princess, that's terrible--what kind of gift would that be?! I wonder how I would go about making sure this did not happen on the other end.
CantStay--thanks for your great suggestions!
Margo--thanks anyway, it was a great thought!

I have shipped things to Europe and Princess is right; when you fill out the forms at the Post Office there is a space for you to check if the package is a "gift" or if it is "merchandise" but I don't know how that would be handled when the package comes from a business.

JES - if you want to order something from a website, have it sent to yourself first, and then send it to Norway (label as a gift).

For the family in Norway, I would find out from your friend if they have a favorite restaurant or find out if there's a restaurant that is particularly good in their area. Then, contact the restaurant and see if you can arrange a gift certificate - either you just get charged by the restaurant a fixed amount and you can make them a gift certificate or perhaps they can print something for you. (A restaurant in a famous hotel may be able to accomodate a request like this more easily than a small mom and pop place where you may not be able to get someone on the phone that you communicate with.) Then you don't have to worry about shipping anything besides a card with a certificate or a note that you're treating them to dinner, and they will have a great meal during which they can discuss your thoughtfulness. If the restaurant doesn't work, you can find out if there are any shows or concerts in their area that they might be interested in and get them tickets.

That's a great idea travellamb--thank you.

I am also originally from the NY area, and we often give real maple syrup as gifts (Europeans, in particular, have loved it!). It's small and easy to tuck into a suitcase or carry-on. You could give one container to your friends in Switzerland and leave one in the house in France (in addition to sending gifts to the your friend in the states and the parents in Norway).

Another idea: someone I know recently gave Zabar's mugs as "NY area" gifts.

As for shipping costs to Norway, it might be cheaper and easier to buy them something in France and mail it from there (or bring something with you and mail it from there).

As the owner of a place in France, what I would most like in those circumstances is something for the house. We have some lovely table linen, a fantastic cheeseboard and a bike, all so acquired.

I would take something for your US based friends back to them from France, and I'd send the parents a card, signed an annotated by everyone spending the holiday with you. I'd tell them about the gift you were leaving and I'd maybe include a photograph of it if that was appropriate.

Your thanks will be quite enough, I'm sure.