Must-buys in Paris and London?
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Anonymous
| Things to bring home that we don't have here, or are much cheaper over there. |
Anonymous
| Nothing. Enjoy the cities and the food. |
Anonymous
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Nothing. Just buy souvenirs that will remind you of your trip.
Before kids, I bought jewelry or art when I traveled. When I went to London and Paris last year, I bought small figures of the Eiffel Tower, a red British phone booth, and a red double decker bus...and I have them on my desk at work. I also bought a tin of cookies at some British tea and chocolate place...the tin is beautiful and plays "god save the queen" or whatever that song is called. Also bought a tote bag at the tea shop (fortnum & mason, I think?). |
Anonymous
| I love shopping in french grocery stores - dijon mustard, chestnut cream, etc. Also bought a bunch of their reusable bags. They fold up really small and remind me of our trip on a regular basis. |
Anonymous
OP here. We have definitely planned for a visit to La Grande Epicerie. |
Anonymous
Sea salt is waay cheaper on France- just go to a regular grocery or mono prix - I have girls & they have adorable clothes at monoprix. In England load up on chocolate. I was spoiled with English chocolates when I was a kid & even the cheap Mars stuff & smarties are so much creamier & yummy than what is produced for North America. I love hitting up grocery stores in France- such cool stuff, too bad you can't bring back cheese but eat some! Shopping for cheap fashionable clothes is easier in London but might be a time waster when there's so much else to see & enjoy. Have fun- I'd love to be in your shoes 
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Anonymous
This is what I was going to say. I used to live a few blocks away from it and I miss the teas and the mustards in particular. If you like tea, get a Kusmi Tea Sampler. Little bottles of mustard are great, as are small containers of Sel de Mer. If you like pate and foie grois, which my family does, stop by the Comptoirs Richard on 48 Rue du Cherche-Midi, which is not far from La Grande Epicerie. They have many small tins of exceptionally good pate and foie gross. Finally, you can probably tell I am a foodie, Fauchon on the place de la Madeleine has wonderful goodies. My favorite used to be the local honey a l'Opera that was made from bees the visited the rooftop gardens of Paris. Le Bon Marche, right next to La Grande Epicerie, of course, has a lovely stationery department and a wonderful children's toy department. I personally love going to the student stores in the fifth, like Gibert Joseph on St. Michel, for cool notebooks, pens and paper. I also love Monoprix, the Target of Paris, because it has great baby clothes and little household doo-dads. Finally, I love just wandering through BHV, on the right bank. I have bought wonderful little leather goods there and it also has an amazing stationery/art section. If you end up going to the department stores on the left bank, like Printemps, they have wonderful little cafes and restaurants that have terrific views of the city and are VERY children friendly. i used to meet friends there with our infants all the time. They even have BF rooms. One of the few places in Paris you don't have to worry about your kids being loud or unruly. I could go on and on (can you tell I miss Paris?) if you have anything you really like or want, let me know and I can offer suggestions. |
Anonymous
these are awesome, thank you! we only have three days sadly, so not a lot of time. But we are staying St Germain, so if you think of anything else in that area, that would be great. Definitely doing Bon Marche too. |
Anonymous
| Newfeel shoes. They are so cute, so comfortable and so cheap. DH bough red and white ones 7 years ago and they are still going strong. Don't forget the soles if sold separately. |
Anonymous
| Pierre Herme- check for their ice cream too |
Anonymous
ooh second pierre herme- i liked the macarons better than la duree. and macarons last for about 2 days in a box so good gift to bring back if you can give them right away. Also ,are the effort to have the original Bertillon, its lovely |
Anonymous
Anonymous
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Do you know what I always bring back when we go to France, it's odd, but the glass/ceramic yogurt containers.
When we have gone at Christmas I have brought back red ones that say Merry Christmas in French and when we were there a few weeks ago I brought back orange ceramic ones. Other times I have brought back glass ones. We use them as glasses (the ceramic ones we used as outdoor wine glasses last night), candle holders, etc. If you are into them, Longchamp bags are way cheaper in France. We have 5 teen/college aged nieces and these have been very popular with them. My kids are obsessed with european m&ms (they really do taste different). If we travel during or after Spring break I usually bring back some decent/upscale chocolate bars as end of the year teacher gifts (with a coffee gift cert) - teachers seem to love this gift no matter where outside the US it is from. Some people swear the clinique dramatically different moisturizer in Paris is different - we have 2 aunts (both lived to use in France) that always request that we bring it back. |
Anonymous
| Longchamp bags were a bargain when I was there. I also like sisley makeup and it is much more reasonable in France. |