Souvenirs
 

Where and What?
I am looking for some souvernirs unique to France . I live in Seattle and am visiting Paris. All the magnets and little towers can be found in Seattle too. Any suggestions? Where can I find them?

Thank you very much,
Samira

I like L'Occitane products but those are available in the US and most can't go in carry-on, so I've just shot down my own suggestion!

La Vassellerie shops are in several locations, they have cute, small, French-like things, some possibly made in France. www.lavassellerie.fr

Look for French paper products, moleskine journals and notebooks, calendars, children's books for someone studying French. Some of the pedestrian streets in the 5th and 6th have small boutiques with quirky things. Almost everyone loves the scarves from Dewali on Ile St. Louis but most won't pass a Made in France test if that's important. www.dewali-paris.com

I love Beauvillé table linens but only buy those for myself.

Sorry, it's www.lavaissellerie.fr

What I like to bring people - unless they are very close and you want to bring a real gift - is a guidebook from one of the major sights I visit. It's not only really from France it tells them something about at least a little part of France. Even if they aren't interested enough to read the text the pictures usually tell a fascinating story.

Much better than a plastic Eiffel Tower.

Look in the groceries.

Sea salts from various parts of France are light-weight, way less expensive than in the States.

Amora mustard: I think it's what makes French salad taste French, and it's very cheap (bulky, though). One-euro gifts are the colorful totes (with a French motto) sold at the registers in Monoprix.

Also soaps.

We have brought back stationery, Plans de Paris (map books), RATP bus guides, blue enamel house numbers, waffle towels, doll clothes, coat hooks, drawer pulls, hats, and scarves. Shoes for ourselves.

We bring back a Christmas ornament for our tree from all our travels! Makes putting up the tree even more fun!

For tea lovers I have brought back Marriage Frere silver tea spoon scoops-tiny to carry, nicely boxed and under 10 euros at least when I got them last time 4-5 years ago. I also always get questions and compliments on the Paris metro plastic shopping bag that I use. Can't tell you how many people in trader joe's want to know where to get one. There are also some nice metro map tee towels and some less "cheesy" ones that are more true linen towels with Eiffel Tower, scenes of Paris etc.

We also have 10-15 plastic photo placemats from different towns in France that we rotate for own use at home-reminds us of our trips :)

Jamikins,

My husband and I have purchased ornaments from our domestic travel, but have not done so while abroad as it seems much more common to find Christmas ornaments for sale all year long in the States. We are going to Italy next year (Rome and Umbria). Any ideas for where one might find Christmas ornaments in Italy in May? Like you, we love decorating the tree and remembering all the placs we've been. Plus, some of the ornaments crack me up (a gladd lobster from Maine for example). I mean, how Christmas, right?

Sorry for the threadjack by the way. My typical gift for people from Paris is tea from the aforementioned Marriage Frere, jams, mustards and chocolates (depending on the weather).

indyhiker: you can find Christmas ornaments in Rome in souvenir shops in the general area of the Piazza Navona.

I don't know where you're going in Umbria abut my suggestion is to look in real souvenir shops that cater just to tourists.

Threadjack is a great word.

Okay, for starters, who doesn't like food:

-- Chocolate: Buy at CDG airport just before you depart.
-- Henry La Croix Caramels - simply the best
-- Tea Towels (inscribed w/French wine labels) La Maison Ivre 38 rue Jacob
Metro: St. Germaine des Pres
-- Bon Marche Grande Épicerie: just about everything; it's worth a visit (mustards!)
-- Cute Dog tote bag: Pain Poilâne Boulangerie
-- Apron: E. DEHILLERIN - fabulous cooking store; you could also pick up a copper utensil or butter warmer
-- Perhaps a mounted butterfly, moth or insect from Deyrolle, another 'must see' store upstairs

A lot of cute stores in the St. Germaine area...

Thanks for the suggestions. It's funny; I don't recall ever going into a "souvenir shop" in Paris and have zero recollection of ever seeing one despite multiple visits, so it didn't occur to me for some reason that such a thing would exist in Rome!

They have tons of souvenir shops around the Seine in Paris, and north of Notre Dame, I don't know how you could miss them if you have ever walked along the quay. Plus street vendors around the main things like Eiffel Tower. Even Monoprix and stores like that have souvenirs in them in the center of Paris. I think there are some on the Champs-Elysees, also.

I think souvenirs are, by definition, a remembrance of a place for you, so you should just pick out something you like that means something to you. A gift is something different than a souvenir, as the person hasn't been there. In the souvenir shops in Paris, they do sell these little folding mirrors with decorative tops that are scenes of Paris (or a famous impressionist painting, etc.) They are the size of a small compact. I find them cute and a lot of women like them (or small pill boxes like that. YOu probably could find them elsewhere, but the ones with scenes of Paris are not as likely to be elsewhere.

I got a friend a knife that was shaped like a baguette in a souvenir shop. It looked like a very small baguette but the knife part pulled out of the cover/shell (which was the baguette). She said that would be good for taking camping. It was only about 6-8 inches long.

Years ago, someone else on this forum suggested purchasing the beautiful tile house numbers from the basement of BHV department store. This is one of my favorite places!! I have also purchased little black & white enamel signs such as "Cave" and "Avocat" and "Chef" for friends and family. The tiles and the signs are made in France. It is really more a french version of Home Depot...love to visit here!

I brought back tin hot chocolate mugs but can't remember where I got them.nicely decorated little mugs.

I wanted to bring back some marmalade from Scotland but it was confiscated by security at the airport as being over 3 oz. Something to bear mind regarding liquids and gelatinous substances.

We all know terrorists prefer raspberry jam as their weapon of choice.

We have found Xmas ornaments all over Europe - just look in gift shops. If not we buy things that we can attach hangers to and use those as ornaments!

One thing I'm going to look out for this time is kitchen towels -- I like to buy things that are useful and decorative. I also in the past have bought pretty serving trays -- easy to pack at the bottom of a suitcase. I also like to buy tea, my husband stocks up on chocolate, and small grocery items, such as mustard, sea salt in pretty tins, spices, etc. I'm always on the lookout for pretty earrings -- usually inexpensive -- and they are definitely easy to pack.

I often bring back chocolate for my friends and coworkers... when in Paris my favorite place to buy those in is La Grande Epicerie.

I've also hit a patisserie right before leaving and getting a box of macarons. Now you can get them in North America, but most people enjoy getting something edible.

I too try to buy an ornament whenever I travel... I did get a beautiful horse one last year in Stockholm (we are horse people) but was too scared to put it up in the tree and have one of the cats get to it!!

PERFUME, of course.

Herbs and embroidered towels. Place mats, tiles.

<i>Souvenirs
Posted by: ssbbaa77 on Aug 6, 14 at 4:16am
I am looking for some souvernirs unique to France . I live in Seattle and am visiting Paris. All the magnets and little towers can be found in Seattle too. Any suggestions? Where can I find them?</i>

How much do you want to spend for each item?

The Maille Mustard store in Place Madeleine has lovely small jars of mustard in many varieties. Other food shops around the Place have unique food items. We love Provençal olive oil and it's hard to get in the U.S. We did find out pork products from France were not allowed back in the U.S. Truffles, no problem. Some prints from a bouquiniste would be fun. I've also brought back antique postcards; there are several shops in the Passage des Panamoramas.

Oh gee, I've brought back so many things mentioned. Lots of food items properly packaged and in my checked luggage. My Mom's a tea drinker. I've also bought her scarves and some jewelry and she loves handkerchiefs. Tote bags, soaps. My Mom used to collect collectable plates. Which were delicate to get home unbroken but the department stores always found a box.

I've also brought back for my female friends compacts, pill boxes and mirrors with famous French scenes on them. Lightweight books.

And I love the bookinists along the Seine and and found some fun things there.

Chocolate...if you have room in your luggage.

SS

I love the xmas ornament idea - something you can do everywhere.

I also love to pick up cloth (or heavy plastic) shopping bags on trips, and am always pleased when someone else brings me one.

In Assisi (Umbria) there is a particular type of traditional embroidery using predominately blue or read thread (but sometimes other colors) often outlined with fine black thread. You can find various small items decorated with this type of embroidery, such as towels, potholders, and the like. The examples you'll see in souvenir shops have very simple designs, but you can find more elaborate examples easily.

Here is a very simple, but traditional table set:

http://www.accademiapuntoassisi.com/...hesi03_JPG.jpg

In Umbria, a good local pecorino cheese is a good souvenir. Most places will vacuum pack it, which isn't required by US food importation rules, but it does keep it from stinking up your luggage. They have all different stages of aging, from very fresh to hard-as-rock. The more aged types are great for grating.

Honey from Umbria (and neighboring Le Marche) is also very good, if you can find it in small jars. You should get some that's locally produced and unprocessed. It will usually be opaque and of a dense consistency, although honey from some types of flower remain liquid.

A wonderful appetizer, or dessert, is a chunk of aged pecorino cheese with a bit of honey on it.

I've bought the little J Carlton Parisian buildings. You can find them in all the little souvenir shops along the streets to the left of Notre Dame (for the directionally challenged) or Rue de Rivoli near Place de la Concorde.

one caution about bringing cheeses home: a few years ago, we were in Netherlands before a Rhine/Mosel river boat cruise. At a goat cheese shop outside of Amsterdam, all 4 of us fell in love with the goat goudas, a vertical stack of 3 rounds in the red waxy-coating, which didn't need refrigeration so were great to take with us and bring home. Well, DH and I thought to put it in our CHECKED luggage, and we were fine. Our friends tried keeping theirs in their carry-on, never thinking that it looks a lot like C4 explosives or something (and both husbands are retired military..) Anyway, theirs was confiscated at the airport.
So: it's a superb thing to bring home, but - check it!
we leave soon for our 10th week in Paris and then wandering France - I've used many of these ideas but I'm taking some new ideas for this trip - thanks, y'all!

Wonderful butter from Brittany (bought mine in Monoprix in Paris) with flakes of sea salt in it. I kept it in mini fridge night before flight home, put it in baggie in checked bag, and it was still cool when I unpacked it at home that evening. I have been making it last as long as possible since our return but just tonight decided that the tiny bit left probably should be thrown out--or maybe one last blob on toast tomorrow a.m.!

I brought back different varieties of honey that I picked up from a small shop on rue st Antoine. I'm going to do the same thing this year. I keep toothpicks in my empty jar, a lovely reminder of a sweet trip!

sugarmaple, if you have visited it already you might like Maison de Miel: http://www.maisondumiel.com/ It is in the 9th just around the corner from Fauchon. It is a lovely store:


24 rue Vignon 75009 PARIS

Table linen is another thing.
Opinel knives (but don't carry them back

You can put marmalade in your proper luggage, Iamdonehere. Want me to post you a pot?

I am all about my Maille mustard to bring home, also chocolate and the brown butter biscuits from Hediard---so good.

Last year, we brought home a set of champagne flutes from Maison de Famille that we use all the time.

E. DEHILLERIN, my favorite store. I bought a lot of cookie cutters that are stamped made in France. I bought every Eiffel Tower and many Roosters but am sure they have more. They make their own wood utensils stamped with the store name and made in France. I would have bought more but these were items that packed well. Julia Child shopped here.

We've bought chocolates at Jacques Genin. They cautioned us not to put them in our checked luggage and, when we got home, not to refrigerate them.

Be careful on how you plan to take your souvenirs home.

Friends and I had each made a small - maybe 10 x10 inches - mosaic on a square wood backing and each packed them in our carry-ons. The friends had no trouble leaving from Rome that way. We, on the other hand, were told by the Florence airport security that it was way too "dangerous" to be carried on. You know those dangerous sharp corners and all! We had to throw it away. :(

Pack as much as you can in your checked bags (not chocolates...you might need them during the trip ;) ) to be safe.