Finding distinctively local gifts and souvenirs is all part of the fun of travel, and there are numerous unique and cool things to buy in France. We’re going to pick out some of the best.
France may have given us the word souvenir (derived from the French souvien, remember), but we’re going to swerve the kitschy products found in tourist shops everywhere. So, no Eiffel Tower keyrings or Mont-Saint-Michel snowglobes.
This list will focus on mementoes and keepsakes that France does better than any other country. And hopefully, help future visitors find the perfect souvenir to buy in France that is totally and utterly French.
Regional specialities of France
Regional individuality is still alive and well in France. There are many artisanal goods to buy in France that are regional specialities, like the first entries on our list.
1. Savon (soap) from Marseille
If you visit Marseille, savon de Marseille is the perfect local souvenir.
Soap making has been big business in Marseille since at least 1370. Marseille has since set a high standard for soap making.
A hard soap, savon de Marseille is, by royal edict no less, always made with olive oil. Often sold in attractive cubes, soap from Marseille looks good and has an everyday usefulness that makes it an excellent gift to buy in France.
2. Lavender scented products from Provence
Scented products are big in France, and lavande (lavender) is the nation’s leading fragrance.
Aside from filling Instagram feeds with enviably picturesque scenes, the lavender farmed in Provence has many uses. Essential oils, perfumes, natural remedies, and culinary preparations utilise authentic Provence lavender.
The best place in France to buy lavender products is, naturally, around the enchanting farms of Provence. Although shops across France sell lavender products. If you visit Provence, you can learn more about this beloved and useful flower at the Musée de la Lavande (Lavender Museum) in Cabrières-d’Avignon.
3. Herbes de Provence
It’s not just lavender Provence is famous for, but also its characteristic cuisine. Olives, tomatoes, peppers, and other Mediterranean flavours define Provencal cuisine. But nothing sets the local flavours apart like herbes de Provence. A balanced blend of dried oregano, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and savory, this is one of the leading flavours of France.
Look out for the Label Rouge variety, an assurance of high quality.
4. Fleur de sel de Guérande
Fleur de sel (flower of salt) is sea salt manually extracted from salt pans in several coastal regions of France. Laboriously removed from the crust of trapped seawater, it is an artisanal trade. Weatherbeaten wooden shacks typically sell the salt direct to passing customers.
Salt farmers are found in some of the most picturesque and tourist-friendly parts of France, like the islands of Noirmoutier and Île de Ré. But the finest is harvested in Guérande, Brittany.
Forming delicate crystals that impart huge flavour, the salt is prized for adding crunch and is used sparingly to finish dishes, unlike sel marin (sea salt). If you can’t visit the smallholders, you can pick up beautifully presented packets in supermarkets.
5. Moutarde de Bourgogne
Moutarde de Dijon might be the French mustard you’ve heard of, but it’s hardly authentic. Most of the mustard seeds are imported from Canada. Far more authentic is Moutarde de Bourgogne, mustard of Burgundy.
Burgundy is home to Dijon, but the two mustards are noticeably different. Moutarde de Bourgogne is made with local mustard seeds and local Burgundy wine.
Geographically protected, the only independent producer still making it is Moutarderie Edmond Fallot. Easier to buy in France, this is the ideal gift to impress foodies who like a bit of fire with their food.
Gourmet French Gifts
In a country made for gourmands, it is easy to bring home the literal flavours of France.
While stuffing your suitcase full of ripe camembert is guaranteed to taint your luggage and reputation, there are some delectable foods you can buy in France that are tailor-made for travel.
6. Caramel au beurre salé (salted caramel)
Salted caramel is a flavour loved by ice cream makers and pastry chefs globally. Yet the moreish treat is a French creation. It started life in Brittany and the pastries of Henri Le Roux.
With the touch of a culinary alchemist, Monsieur Le Roux married a Breton speciality, salted butter, with ordinary caramel and crushed nuts. A food trend was born.
Initially a dessert flavouring, caramel au beurre sale quickly became the base flavour for many confections, including bonbons and tartiner (spread).
Packets of the chewy indulgences are found in shops all over Brittany and in patisseries across France. It is also the feature flavour of myriad desserts, from eclairs to macarons.
7. Biscuits
Biscuits is another sweet treat that France excels at making. It is easy to name an individual biscuit to buy in France — such as LU’s petit-beurre or the exquisite biscuits roses de Reims. But there is so much choice and, with an unwavering focus on quality, just about any biscuit in well-presented packaging makes an ideal gift to buy in France.
Butter is key to many of the best French biscuits. If presentation matters, choose the biscuits of Mere Poulard, the biscuit makers that started life as a restaurant and hotel in Mont-Saint-Michel. They produce many lip-smacking biscuits gorgeously presented in colourful boxes.
8. Macarons
You can find high-quality macarons in fine bakeries across the world. Yet these pretty and elegant delicacies are the epitome of French pastry passion.
Buy a dozen or more of the dainty treats and they will arrive in attractive packaging, which partly explains why they are popular gifts in France.
Some rank Ladurée and Pierre Hermé macarons from Paris as the height of sophistication, but fine patisseries across France make exceptional macarons. The only catch is how to resist eating them before gifting them.
9. Financiers
If the journey home is too long, fresh and fragile macarons may not be practical. An alternative to macarons is another almondy French delicacy, financiers.
These spongy delights with a crispy shell travel well, taste delicious, and look good for easy gifting.
An alternative to financiers is the more everyday madeleines, wildly popular cakes available with natural flavours and fillings like caramel or confiture.
10. Nougat de Montélimar
It is safe to say the French have a sweet tooth. You can trace the history of France’s love of sugary treats back for centuries. The famous nougat of Montélimar first appeared in the early 1700s.
A sticky confection of almonds (that versatile ingredient again), honey, and egg whites, it is a mouthwatering nougat with a big reputation.
AOP protection ensures Nougat de Montélimar is always authentic and easier to buy in France, as the French let little pass through their borders. It is that delicious.
11. Tapenade
Switching from sucré (sweet) to the salé (savoury) we have a very different epicurean delight from the Provencal region of France.
Condiment, dip, or spread, you decide how to make the best use of this versatile product. A popular accompaniment for aperitifs, the salty umami blend of olives, capers, and anchovies is what sets the taste apart.
Tapenade packs all the flavour of a Provencal holiday into small jars, perfect for recreating the Mediterranean spirit at home. If taking fish-based products home is a problem, look out for variations that do not include anchovies.
12. Tinned sardines
If taking an anchovy product home with you is forbidden, this next entry on our list of the best gifts to buy in France is not for you. Which is unfortunate, because France is home to fantastic canned seafood.
The best place to buy tinned seafood in France is from la conserverie (the cannery) ‘La Belle-Îloise’, known for both their quality and exquisitely designed tins. Branches of their photogenic stores are found all over France.
Want to discover other unique French foods. We look at a few more French gourmet delights in our post ‘12 Delicious French Foods That You Have Probably Never Heard Of’
Quirky and original French souvenirs
The ‘Made in France’ label (written in English) is found on many items you can buy in France. It is usually a strong indication that the item has international appeal. Pretty much everything in our next section could only be made in France.
13. Potato chips with a gallic twist
Perhaps a surprise entry on a list of interesting things to buy in France, but hear me out. France has a genuine love for potato chips with crazy flavours. It’s all about the l’apéro, that moment before dinner for a quick drink and light nibbles.
There is a vast choice of potato chips and gâteaux aperitif (appetiser cakes or, more accurately, savoury snacks).
While there are conventional flavours, there are also some downright insane flavours that you could only buy in France.
The most creative potato chips minds work for Bret’s. Their ever-expanding range includes flavours like brebis cerise noir (sheep cheese and black cherry), La Bretonne (simply salted butter flavour, a nod to their Breton roots), and camembert. A cheap and surprisingly tasty gift to recreate an apéro moment back home.
14. La marinière (the famous striped sweater)
Ask a street artist to draw a caricature of a French person, there’s a high probability it will feature a striped sweater, beret, and baguette. A stereotype you’re more likely to see displayed ironically by travelling French spectators at an international rugby match.
Of course, there is some truth to the stereotype. Baguettes appear everywhere, while striped tops are cherished in French fashion and culture. The beret is probably the only true relic of the past, albeit fondly remembered as a symbol of the French resistance during the occupation of 1940-44.
The classic blue and white horizontal striped sweater is known as la marinière, ‘the sailor’. That’s because it is a feature of the French naval uniform (also known as a Breton shirt, due to the high number of Bretons from Brittany who joined the navy).
Fashion designers like Coco Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier have elevated the tricot rayé (striped sweater) to fashion icon status, making it a cool gift to buy in France. Even the French football team briefly embraced the design with their away kit in 2011, which was poorly received and quickly binned.
15. Guillotine à saucisson
Who wouldn’t want to bring home a guillotine you can only buy in France?
The guillotine — a French invention — is synonymous with the founding event of the Republic of France, the French Revolution.
Guillotine à saucisson is far more agreeable to the bourgeoisie. And legal. It is a slightly gimmicky but fun way to slice saucisson or other cured sausages.
A quirky tool you can buy in France so you can proclaim to your friends that you picked up a guillotine in France. Be sure to grab some saucisson too, as it’s not very practical for slicing carrots.
16. Opinel knife
Far more practical than a guillotine is the Opinel Knife.
While Switzerland has the Swiss Army Knife, France has the more basic yet always well-engineered Opinel knife. A simple folding blade with a wooden handle, once considered a peasant’s knife.
Prices have risen very little since 1890 when Joseph Opinel first produced the pocket-sized tool. Today, they remain a cheap and reliable knife widely used across France.
Opinel knives are renowned for their high craftsmanship and unsurpassed design. Named by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as one of the 100 most beautiful products in the world, this is a souvenir to show off.
The best part? You can pick one up for under €10.
17. Vintage French advertising plaques
The target of this list of cool things to buy in France is to avoid kitschy souvenirs. Yet we’ll make an exception for something tourists will find on sale in all corners of France: vintage French advertising signs.
Quintessentially gallic with endless variation, there is a vintage sign for everyone. From Perrier water to the Moulin Rouge, they romantically evoke images of a bygone France.
From fridge magnets to wall plaques, they are affordable and distinctively French mementoes.
Best French airport gifts
If you were too busy enjoying your trip to think about what gifts to buy in France — or realised you want to keep the ones you’ve purchased — a frantic visit to the airport gift shop might be the solution.
You’ll never find anything too unique amongst the beret-wearing teddy bears and French football shirts, but there is a handful of quality items that won’t scream ‘last-minute purchase’. Here are a few of the best things you can buy in France at the very last moment.
18. Saucisson sec (dry-cured sausage)
Saucisson sec is dry-cured sausage that can be found in any supermarket and always at the airport. Another apéro favourite, look out for geographically protected varieties like Saucisson sec d’Auvergne or Saucisson de l’Ardèche for the highest quality you can buy in France.
19. Pastis
Pastis is a taste of Southern France enjoyed all over the country. The aniseed flavour might not be to everyone’s taste, but the stylish bottles are worth the price alone.
Pastis is usually cheaper to buy in France and easier to find. However, nothing is more convenient than grabbing a bottle at the airport.
Ricard is the best-known brand – the name is interchangeable with pastis in the French vocabulary since Paul Ricard created the drink. Other brands like 51 and Henri Bardouin are just as good, if not better. Otherwise, there’s a huge range of drinks that France is famous for, including calvados and cognac.
20. Eau de toilette / Eau de parfum
Distinguished by odour intensity (and price), perfume is the classic last-minute airport buy. Although you might get some credit if you buy in France, the perfume capital of the world.
The big names in perfume (Chanel, Dior etc.) are popular gifts wherever you buy them. For something more authentic to buy in France, look out for the lighter fragrances of eau de toilette.
There we have it. A selection of interesting gifts and souvenirs to buy in France that are ideal for bringing the gallic experience home with you.
