Eight Great Gift Ideas for Your Francophile Friends

Eight Great Gift Ideas for Your Francophile Friends What gifts could you give to your Francophile or France loving friends? Nowadays, with e-commerce, sending the right gift to the right person is so much easier. Yet, there are so many choices out there. Here is my top eight list: 1 – A Book about France Check out your local Amazon store, there are plenty of beautiful books about France.  First, select the â€Å"book† category. Then, you have a lot of choices. To narrow down the searches, look at the options on your left (you may need to press â€Å"see more†). Select: - â€Å"Art and photography† for beautiful books. I love The Louvre - all the paintings, The Best loved villages of France, and Spectacular Paris.- â€Å"Travel guides† to prepare a trip.  - â€Å"Cookbook, food and wine also make a great idea. My husband is a great cook, and his favorite is Mastering the Art of French Cooking - You cannot go wrong with Julia Child! And My Paris Kitchen - Olivier often picks up David Lebovitzs book for inspiration, and all his recipes always turn out perfect - we highly recommend it.- â€Å"Comic book† – what about a French edition of the world-famous â€Å"Tintin† or â€Å"Astà ©rix†?   Then, you can have your book shipped wherever you like, and even have it gift-wrapped. How practical! 2 – A French CD/MP3 or DVD French music is so readily available, both in stores and on the web. Of course you have the classics: Brel, Aznavour, Piaf... but there are many young talents out there: you may have heard of â€Å"Stromae† but he is not the only one (check out â€Å"Zaz†, â€Å"M Pocora† â€Å"Tal†, â€Å"Bà ©nabar†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) : Check out my Pinterest board â€Å"Les VIP du PAF (Screen and Audio French VIPs) for inspiration, pictures, and videos of who’s hot in France right now. For movies in French, check out Amazon Canada – you’ll pay a bit more for shipping but will have a much larger selection and you are still in the appropriate DVD zone for the US.​ Note: Unfortunately, DVDs are ‘region locked’ and so a DVD meant for the European market will not play on a standard US/CAN DVD player. If this is a DVD for a US/Canadian based friend, make sure it’s â€Å"Region 1† (or that they have a hacked and unlocked DVD player). 3 – A French Audiobook What about learning some French? There are a ton of resources out there, including pricey French learning software (If you are going this way, I recommend Fluenz) and old-fashion dictionaries. You will, of course, find plenty of textbooks on Amazon, but if you ask me, students of French absolutely need an audio support. Audiobooks are convenient; your friend can download them to their smart phone and use them on the go, during workouts or commuting time. If your friends are French or speak French fluently, check out Audible for their selection of audio novels in French. And if your friends are still learning French, then pick a  level appropriate French audio novel or French learning method  on my site, FrenchToday.com. 4 – French Gourmet Food Still on Amazon, check the category â€Å"grocery and gourmet food† and type â€Å"France† or anything special you would be looking for. There is a gift there for any budget. You can also go to your local fine grocery store, and once you look carefully, you’ll be surprised at the number of French food items.   â€Å"Fleur de sel de Guà ©rande† makes a great gift for foodies (this is actually the one Olivier loves), but there are also many French mustards (I love the brand â€Å"Maille†) and spices, cookies, and chocolate. 5 – French Wine Tasting You don’t need to be in France to taste French wines. If you live in a large city, chances are that your local wine store organizes wine tastings. Pay them a visit and ask them if and when they plan on having a French wine tasting. You could even ask them if they could organize one for you and your Francophile friends. Stores are usually very happy to do so and it would be a fun moment, and a personalized gift for your friend. 6– French Perfume and Make-Up Chanel, Dior, Lancà ´me... We dream about these brands but only few people can treat themselves to this kind of luxury. However, many of these brands do have a cosmetic department, and a Dior Lipstick for example is a gift that will most likely impress any lady. You can find them online or in any large department store. 7 – Coupon for a French Restaurant Ok, this one may be a bit on the expensive side. But it’s fun. And if your friends often go to their favorite French restaurant, you can call that restaurant and ask to buy a bottle of wine for the next time your friends go there.   8– French Magazine Subscription There are many French magazines out there, and with Amazon.com, you can get a subscription to a magazine in French right to your door: Vogue, Cuisine et vins de France, Marie-Claire Maison, Photo, Voici or Gala,  they make wonderful gifts because every month, your friend will be reminded of your thoughtful gift. Je mets tous les jours des mini-leà §ons gratuites sur Facebook, Twitter et Pinterest - venez m’y rejoindre! I also wrote many articles about Christmas in France:- 7 Must Know Noà «l Traditions- Christmas in France Dialogue - French English Bilingual Easy Story- Meet the French Santa - French English Bilingual Easy Story-8 Gift Ideas for Your Francophile Friends- Petit Papa Noà «l - The Most Famous French Christmas Song (with a link to a video of my daughter singing it!)-  My enunciated recording of the Catholic mass prayers in French Joyeuses fà ªtes de fin dannà ©e! Happy Holidays!