Need Some Help (Ideas, not money or anything requiring real work......)

[Scout26]

Our French Exchange Student arrived Sunday.  She from Toulouse, a really sweet girl, speaks pretty good British English.  Our kids are learning alot from her.  (Like Table Manners... :rolleyes:).  She's here for 2 weeks.  They go to see all the tourist stuff in Chicago during the week.  (Sears Tower, Navy Pier, Art Institute, ESPN Zone, etc...)  She will also accompany my daughter to school one day and shadow her, to see the difference between their schools and ours.  The evenings and weekends she spends with us to see what a "typical" American family does.   

Her parents and I e-mailed back and forth several times prior to her arrival.  He's Doctor and she's a stay at home mom. Anyway, here's my dilemma, they sent us gifts.  I mean REALLLLLLLY nice gifts.  A bottle of 1989 Chateau Cap de Mourlin Grand Cru Classe, that was probably the finest bottle of wine I've ever tasted.  '89 was an exceptional year for Bourdeaux, so I figure that probably bottle was probably in the neighborhood of $150-$200.  They also sent my wife a set of glass coasters engraved with various wine labels, a book in French and English about the Violets of Toulouse, and finally a small jar of candied Violets (Toulouse is renowned for Violets).

Crap.  I suck at buying gifts.  I don't want to be a jerk and give them an Obama-style gift.  "Thanks for the wine.  That there's a genuine Mayor Richie Daley Bobblehead."   White Sox and Bears jersey's do not scream "class".   Booze ??  Come on, they're French, I might as well send them a bottle of urine, that would be less of an insult.

So I turn to APS'ers (Hey Laurent!!! You out there ?!?!?)  for some ideas on tasteful gifts (Chicago or American) that I can send back with our "temporary" daughter to give to her parents and show that Americans are not total cads. 

[LadySmith]

Do not send them cheese with offers to help them cut it.

 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

maybe ask kid what they are into?  barring that do something great with kid  all parents like that

[Gewehr98]

Do NOT send them any roast beef. 

Or Werhmacht flags.   

[Harold Tuttle]

Zardoz on PAL DVD

[Scout26]

Do not send them cheese with offers to help them cut it.

 

Watch it LS, or I might just have to fling a shoe in your direction.....

[mtnbkr]

Zardoz on PAL DVD

You want to motivate a Frenchman to surrender again?

Chris

[vaskidmark]

How about dropping down to the National Archives and getting the Constitution gift-wrapped.  Seeing as how we are not using it any more, they might find it interesting - you know, unwrap it on Bastile Day and think about maybe putting it to a vote.

Both Jerry Lewis or His Obamaness seem to be really popular with the French.

Or maybe a really nicely done caligraphy card telling them we are moving that statue from New York Harbor to Brownsville, Tx since it seems more appropriate to have it there.

There!  Three serious suggestions that ought to show that us regular Amuricans understand the meaning of proper gift exchanges.

stay safe.

skidmark

[Nick1911]

Hmm... I really don't know.  That's tough.   :|

My mother exchanges gifts with a French couple at Christmas.  It's always been exceedingly difficult for her, too.

Good luck!

[Bogie]

Some of the central Missouri wines are actually pretty damn good... In that when the French had a nasty blight, guess where they got their new root cuttings from?
 
And we've got the occasional excellent port too...
 
They sent wine. Izza French thing.
 
Whazza 'Merican thing? Wid class, and all dat odda stuff?
 

[280plus]

A Jerry Lewis bobblehead? 

Try something from the Priam winery in CT, I believe they will ship direct for you. Give them a taste of some good American wine. Stay away from the Napa valley crap.

Don't forget, the French wine grapes were wiped out some years ago by some blight or another and we sent them grape plants(?) to refurbish the vineyards, so all French wine is made from American grape stock.

http://www.ctwine.com/priam.html

If they are available send them a bottle of the gewertz and a bottle of reisling. Both are exceptional wines.

they have recent awrds listed here, you may consider sending one or two of the award winners if you can't get the ones I suggested.
http://www.priamvineyards.com/our_wines_priam.html

[gunsmith]

You could ask them to surrender, the French like that!
 don't send them this offensive NSFW tee shirt
http://www.thoseshirts.com/french.html
there used to be an IMAO.us shirt called "fun facts about the french" ... nevermind they wont like it.

Brand name clothes are a lot more expensive over there, if you can find out what size they wear
maybe you can find some ski jackets like "Spyder" at an outlet mall , or northface.
when I was driving a cab last summer, I took Europeans to the mall quite a bit, they really liked American sports labels
clothes

[MechAg94]

I would say to send them a nice American 30/30 rifle or a 1911, but you would probably have trouble with the export/import laws.  :)

I would think something genuinely American would be the ticket, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

[mtnbkr]

If you want to go the wine route, maybe consider putting together a sampler pack of various regional US wines (Nappa Valley, Virginia, etc).  Virginia alone has enough wineries to keep a person busy for years.

Sticking with the edible gift idea, there's plenty of "American" foods that might be appreciated by them.  A Smithfield ham comes to mind.

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

Have you guys been taking good pictures of their daughter around?  Put those in a nice photo album.
I like the wine idea, but maybe look into a much more local wine.  I'm sure you've got winerys nearby.

[El Tejon]

Get a print (something featuring Chicago or the World's Fair poster) framed at the Chicago Art Museum?  You can get the Chicago World's Fair poster at that store across the street from the Art Museum.

[HankB]

Let's see, what to buy a cheese-eating surrender monkey . . . I'm sure they've already got plenty of white flags . . . 

On a serious note . . . it may be quite difficult, but whatever you decide on, make sure it doesn't have a label that says "Made In China" or "Hecho in Mexico" somewhere inside.  :rolleyes:

* A bottle of good American whiskey or rum.

* A presentation-grade (leather bound, etc.) volume of a book by, say, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, or some other American? (Uh, be careful; Twain wrote some unflattering things about the French.) You may find something at Safari Press.

* Photo book of the American West? (Google Ansel Adams.)

[T.O.M.]

I'm going to back the photos of their daughter in America idea.  A photo album of her at various places would be good, especially some good quality prints.  If you are taking digital photos, maybe include a disc of all of the photos.  If I was in their position, I'd appreciate that, along with the safe return of my daughter.  Their gifts were for taking care of their daughter.  Your gifts in return are just kindness and goodwill.

[FTA84]

I second buying a good bourbon and the photo album.

I would not send wine because
a) They sent you wine, and would find it very unthoughtful that you just sent the same thing back.
b) You should send something distinctly American, all of our wine making is aimed at wanting to be French/Italian

[AJ Dual]

I second buying a good bourbon and the photo album.

I would not send wine because
a) They sent you wine, and would find it very unthoughtful that you just sent the same thing back.
b) You should send something distinctly American, all of our wine making is aimed at wanting to be French/Italian

This is a good start.

What "classy" and unique items is the Chicago area known for? I don't know what the French rules on foods and agriculture are, but certain foodstufs might be confiscated.

If you can't think of anything specificaly Chicagoan, American like a top-shelf Bourbon is the next bet.

My parents hosted a French exchange student and liked hosting/her so much they had her back a few more times, and visited her family in France during a European vacation. I'll ask what they sent to her family.

[grampster]

Wild Turkey makes an interesting product.  It's called American Honey.  They mix Wild Turkey bourbon with honey.  It's a tasty, if potent, cordial.

[280plus]

If the note says something like,

"Thank you for letting us try some of your country's wonderful wine, in return we are sending you some from our country's most talented winemakers so that you may try ours."

I don't think it would come of as "unthoughtful" at all. Sending a couple bottles of award winning wine is not a bad gesture. It might even be considered a treat.

That said, the other ideas presented here are good ones too.  

[roo_ster]

Yeah, I was thinking about one of our top-end whiskies/bourbons, preferably an aged/bonded American/Kentucky bourbon.  These links might help:
http://inebrio.com/thescotchblog/?p=948
http://bluekitchen.net/bourbon.html
http://home.netcom.com/~cowdery/articles/allamer.html
http://food.aol.com/epicurious/bourbon-legends

Bourbon also makes the French/American connection, as Kentucky was once called "Bourbon Country/County" and gave its name to bourbon whiskey:

"Bourbon whiskey was named after Bourbon County, which was itself named after the French royal family in gratitude for France's help during the Revolution. When Bourbon County was created in 1786, it covered about one quarter of the state.  Eventually, 34 counties were made from Bourbon. Though new counties were created, the whole region continued to be known as "Old Bourbon" for many years thereafter. "

========

The photo album of their kid doing stuff in America has promise, as it is personalized.

[doczinn]

Ummmm.... Ask the daughter?

[seeker_two]

A recipe for Freedom Fries?...... 


I'm with jfruser on the high-end whiskey/bourbon idea. Maybe add a book on American wildflowers and scenery....