What gift should I send overseas?

June 21, 2006 3:09 PM

I'm in New York. She's in France. What gift can I get her that won't be too expensive to ship or too fragile to make it?

I live in New York and my girlfriend (well, it's complicated) lives in France. I want to get her a nice gift, but not sure what. Originally I was thinking of buying her something from here and sending it, but now I'm kind of stuck on the idea of getting a big thing of chocolate delivered to her. The only problem with that idea is I don't know of any places that will ship something like that internationally (it melts, among other problems). Any websites that I've found that do deliver to France are only in French, and I'm a little bit rusty. I'm not tied down to the chocolate idea, I just want something nice to be delivered to her. Any ideas?

posted by Cochise to human relations (13 comments total)

I've used these people, to send chocolates and flowers to France.
posted by I Love Tacos at 3:22 PM on June 21, 2006

Flickr, iPhoto and I'm sure other programs can make really neat photo album with captions. I did one through iPhoto when I was long distance with the g/f and it was a hit.
posted by Juggermatt at 3:43 PM on June 21, 2006

Call Godiva's online store. They have locations in France that could probably deliver a gift basket to her. You could also call the stores directly (though I imagine you probably need to speak French).
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:45 PM on June 21, 2006

You're in New York, she's in France
You should buy her underpants!

(OK, ok, lingerie, but that doesn't rhyme. Actually I like the iPhoto book idea a lot.)
posted by litlnemo at 5:22 PM on June 21, 2006

Buy her a vermont teddy bear; they ship all over the world. I sent my g/f one while she was in Italy (aaaaaaaw). Yes, they love that, even tho its one of the most useless gifts ever, from a practical point of view ;).
It cost about 60 bucks, not that much more than the cost of the teddy bear.
(incidentally, the vermont teddy bear company is world famous, for reasons that I dont know). Maybe they're handmade or something. Or maybe they have a lifetime warrant - yes, I think thats it. They have a teddy bear 'hospital' where you can send a beat up bear many years later and they'll fix it up. (for free? I dont know). Also the bear ships in a box that has air-holes in it. Hahahaha.

Yes, I was young, romantic, and had a job with money to burn. ;) (come to think of it, I've fallen quite a ways in the years since then!). ;)
posted by jak68 at 5:51 PM on June 21, 2006

I'm usually reluctant to get chocolate, flowers, or bears. What is something you two have in common? Something you've talked about? Something she's wanted but hasn't gotten?

Or, how about concert tickets? Scan this list of upcoming french concerts and see if any of her favorites are on it. You could probably buy tickets at and I believe they have an english version.

Also, is she french, or an american abroad in France? If the latter, I'd try to send her things from home that she can't easily find. If she's in Paris, this isn't a huge category, but elsewhere it could be all sorts of things--NYTimes crossword puzzles, english books, magazines, or decent bagels being just a few things I missed. Give it some thought, and good luck.
posted by sixacross at 6:36 PM on June 21, 2006

oh, christ. I know how to close a tag, I swear.
posted by sixacross at 6:37 PM on June 21, 2006

I love giving Rainbow Makers as gifts.
posted by princelyfox at 6:39 PM on June 21, 2006

Is she American or French, or something else entirely? If she's French or "other," American brands of chocolate simply won't do.

The classic French thing for a woman is a beautiful scarf (silk) - this would be a suitable gift since it's lightweight, isn't fragile, and easily purchased from any decent high-end department store nearby you. It's especially thoughtful if she's American and even the slightest bit into fashion, scarves being de rigeur in the well-dressed Frenchwoman's wardrobe. If you choose a scarf I'd go for the long type rather than the square type since they are more versatile. Expect a good one to go for about $50. Send it via FedEx or DHL yourself instead of having the store ship it.

If you do this I guarantee she will be wowed both by your thoughtfulness and your generosity (and style!).
posted by brain cloud at 6:52 PM on June 21, 2006

Brain Cloud beat me to it! If her taste runs to the funky, you can look on Etsy for handmade crafts and art. Quite a few sellers are in the UK and a handful are in France, so that might help with the shipping.
posted by Quietgal at 6:57 PM on June 21, 2006

Sixacross: Yeah, I'm usually reluctant to send those cliche items as well, but chocolate is a thing between us. I have a ton of gifts I could get here and send, but I was kind of set on the idea of having a company deliver something (food items, really). Food is a big thing for us (and while she and her French metabolism manage to keep her skinny, my American genes are lacking).

How would you go about getting bagels to France?

By the way, if it helps, this is one of the gifts I have for her when she comes in a few weeks (the Frida one). I don't know, maybe it'll help generate some ideas.
posted by Cochise at 9:55 PM on June 21, 2006

zchocolate

Handmade French chocolat, Website is in English. Very cool delivery service (they called my friend to make sure he would be home before delivery, classy packaging).
posted by LadyBonita at 10:06 PM on June 21, 2006

Or.......

You could Paypal a French guy (ie., me) the money to buy and mail (or deliver) a gift bought in France by the aforementionned guy, but chosen on the Internet. Au revoir, pricy stamps ! :)
posted by XiBe at 6:00 AM on June 22, 2006