Presents for Family Back Home

For some years as a Brit expat in France I have been successfully ordering stuff from Marks and Spencer in the UK and paying for it there with my British bank. The choice was the whole of their range less certain perishables, large electricals etc. I used to order for instance a whole box of things which were delivered promptly and inexpensively. Trying to do the same this year for Christmas I have discovered it's become impossible to order anything at all other than the much more limited range of goods on their French website. No toys, childrens books etc amongst many others. In fact the range on their French site is at best pathetic. So at very late notice I will have to go elsewhere and will do so depriving a British comapny of a reasonably large sum. Some accountant or lawyer has got hold of it and spoiled a good customer relationship. Many expats here in France do not want all the things that marketing thinks appeals to only French people in France.

I am (after 56 years) still not so sure that spending money on bibelots other people made and than paying big money for sending them to faraway places is what is love and attention is all about.

Why don't you send something you made yourself? James with his 17 Euro wall? I guess it would be expensive shipping. ;-)

I try to have good long calls with loved ones in other countries and continents (not only at Xmas!) - and, if I can afford, pay for a flight ticket to come visit me or me go there, and preparing my personal experiences through the year in condensed form (mostly photos as 2013 calendars or short descriptions of interesting events that happened to me) and they seem to appreciate it more than receiving another dust collector trinket.

A voucher for a thallaso therapy or other spa is also unbeatable...

I think our culture is so much focused on material things... We bomb or we gift.

The lightest weight of things to send are through internet and direct voice/video contact. A few billion^billion electrons. Hope I did not spoil the Christmas spirit.

Imre

Hi all,

I use Moonpig to create personalised cards. They have a huge choice and I have had great fun doing funnies and also sentimental cards. They also have a selection of gifts. There is a UK, US and Australian site so I only pay UK postage rates for cards I sent to the UK and then the cost from the UK to other countries.

With my Mum in Canada I have a wishlist on Amazon.fr and they have one on Amazon.ca. I order for them from the Amazon.ca and they order from the Amazon.fr thus cutting out the postage costs and they also get stuff they really want :)

You can now add a widget to your tool bar which allows you to add anything from any site to your Amazon wishlist too...

I love this discussion - I only have to post to the UK but it is still very expensive so all ideas for light weight gifts are really welcome!

Dried bay leaves. A friend of mine has loads of them! Thanks for the ideas!

Hi Holly - I replied to you yesterday but I can't fin it ???

Anyway what I said was we send checks to the grandchildren and families. To my friends I send dried bay leaves, because they are so expensive in the States, and lavender sachets I had made. For g/children b-days - gift certs on Amazon as they can then buy what they want.

When I do buy flowers I always call a florist in the town where the person lives. You get more for your money without the FTD charges.
Even shipping costs from US to Canada became horrendous so have adopted this mode of giving for years now.Not ideal but practical. Bonne chance Jo

Your welcome Holly!

Santons are figurines big or small that represent people living in province ( Ha!I almost said village people.) There are traditional figures and also more recent ones. Last year I saw a Sarko santon. I tried absinthe once by curiosity and it was awful. I'd love to be able to mail good wine and cheese or even macarons back home but they'd never make it.

Penny

Thanks Penny. Maybe I'll try that this year. My brother would LOVE for me to get him absinthe but that's NOT going to happen! ;-) The chocolate sounds like a good idea. I like the jewelry idea too. Are santons those little figurines that they sell? Will have to check when the Christmas markets are. Hope I'm not too late.

Thanks again! Holly

Hi Holly!

I know exactly what you're going through. I have a large family so I limit sending presents only to my sisters and not all of my nieces , nephews and brothers in law. I always try to find things that are light , small, unbreakable and unique to France. They're all aware of the shipping costs and packing problems because they go through the same thing on their side when they send me stuff. I'm sure that your family will understand the limits also.

For the past ten years or so I've been sending each of my sisters a santon which I find at the open air Christmas market in Toulouse. I have one sister who loves jewlery another who loves Bonnat chocolate and another who loves coffee and one who likes crafts. So they each get a hand painted santon with a little something else and a Christmas card with a note.

All the best! Penny