My top three favorite sweet souvenirs to bring home from France

We’ve eaten goodies all over the country and these are our favorite picks to travel home with.

I remember sitting in the teacher’s lounge of the middle school where I was working as their English language assistant. It was 2013 and I had found myself living in a tiny village located just north of Paris in rural Picardie. As the school year was ticking down, so was my time there. I sat encircled by other colleagues and the principal, who had come in to grab a coffee and wandered over to join our conversation. Worried about my takeaway from living in France, he nervously asked me what Americans in general thought of when they thought of France. I could tell he had reservations in asking and I remember thinking that, somewhere along the way, he probably had heard the stereotypical things; Americans find the French to be rude or unfriendly. 

I uncrossed my legs and leaned in, excited to share my personal thoughts. “Well, let me begin by saying that the experience I have had living and working in small town France is going to be a bit different from someone visiting from “main town USA” who only visits a few Paris monuments.” He nodded, agreeing with my train of thought so far. 

“But,” I continued, “in general, even before living here, when I think of France, I think of luxury.” He perked up at this unexpected idea. Then, straightening up in his seat, he leaned in closer, interested in where this concept was going.

“I mean even the simplest food, like a ham and butter sandwich, is so elevated here, and don’t get me started on the champagne. Then, of course, there are the French brands. When I think of French brands, I can only think of luxury brands, even if I don’t use them, I know them. There’s Clinique, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermes. Even the everyday brands are still, in my eyes, luxury brands like L’Oréal.” He smiled, liking this version of an American’s perspective. “Yeah,” I nodded, agreeing with my logic, “the clothes, the meals, the desserts, everything here is luxurious.” A large smile crept across his face. I shrugged as the fellow teachers sitting around us nodded at the idea. “I’m just being honest,” I added, as if needing to justify the idea.

Even then, I knew the value of French food as gifts when bringing back souvenirs. When packing my bags on my last day in Clermont, I delicately loaded the slither of remaining space full of chocolates from Paris and buttery salted caramels from Normandy. The rest of the space was dedicated to other delicacies, such as the newly discovered Eau de Vie I recently tried at an English teacher’s dinner party. I liked the idea of it, and again, it just felt luxurious. Wrapping my clothes around it to protect the bottles, I zipped the suitcase shut.

After having brought back gifts for a few years now, Andy and I have somehow finally made it into a workable art form. There were definitely years where I would scour all the weekly markets, mulling over the perfect item for each person, but that has ended up more times than not resulting in my misjudging of their tastes and preferences. 

Now, Andy and I follow what I am calling the 3, 3, 3, rule. We bring back three items that are sweet, three that are savory and three that are miscellaneous. I usually get a mix of the items and, when we finally see everyone after getting back, allow them to create their own little basket of items that they wanted to try based on their preferences. As selfish as it may sound, there is nothing worse than getting a souvenir from someone’s travels that you know you’ll never use. And, despite it being true that it’s the thought that counts, one year I brought back hand-packed sardine tins from Menton for each of my friends. When most of them were “accidentally” left behind, I got the hint. 

This week, I’m going to reveal my top three favorites for sweets to bring home as souvenirs! There are so many incredible sweets, but I always go back to these three, each in a different combination, and they always go over incredibly well and are very traditional!

For one of my favorite sweets to bring back as a gift, I love picking up nougat. Nougat is usually a treat eaten at Christmas, but can be found year round at all of the weekly markets around Provence. When shopping for it, you should know it comes in two different styles: Nougat de Montélimar, which is the softer version, and Nougatine, a harder version of the candy. The nougat itself is made from egg whites and sugar and most closely resembles a meringue with a pillow-y and chewy texture. 

Photo: Airzan.fr

Every market we go to has at least one if not three or four sellers with huge colorful slabs of nougat lining their booths. In this case, you pay by the weight and they will slice off as much as you’d like. Sellers are also more than happy to slice you off a small square to sample if you’d like, so if you aren’t sure which flavor you want, make sure to sample a few first. While getting it from the market is an interactive and fun way to do it, the best way to bring this home would be to get it from a sweets shop, which most towns have. Usually, the shops will sell them in much smaller portions and have them individually wrapped. This makes it ideal for travel. I like to pick up seven or eight different flavors and then allow people to choose a couple to try based on their flavor preferences. Some flavors I’ve gotten in the past include: pistachio, chocolate, café, caramel and lavender. Nougat is something small, easy to travel with and pretty inexpensive when it comes to French delicacies, making it a great option for someone who has limited luggage space and wants to bring home a unique treat from France.

For my second choice, we have recently discovered pâte de fruits during one of our last summers in France. Many of the same booths that sell nougat will have this for sale as well, but I had never had much interest in it until I heard about them from a neighbor. 

This summer, when I ran into her randomly on the grand rue, we decided to walk home together, but not before stopping off at our town’s nougat store to pick up some of the sweet treats for her sister. She was visiting her in Canne the next day and always brought some of the confection for them to enjoy while sitting by the beach reading. While perusing, I came across a weathered wooden shelf showing off brightly hued slabs of pâte de fruit. 

“What exactly is this?” I asked her, pointing to the array of rainbow sweets. 

“Pâte de fruit. It’s an old candy. We used to get it  for Christmas when we were children,” she said walking over to the shelf. 

“It’s fruit paste and sugar that is cut into little squares,” she said, dreamily gazing at them. 

I had the feeling she had been taken back to Christmas mornings as a child. 

The shop owner walked up behind us and gestured to the blocks of candy. 

“Would you like to try some?” I nodded and he sliced off a small portion of fig pâte de fruit. 

My eyebrows raised. “Wow,” I said, looking at my neighbor. “It kind of tastes like the best fruit leather or fruit snack that I’ve ever had.” 

She laughed as she made her way to the counter to pay for her nougat. 

A lot of sweet shops do have pâte de fruit individually wrapped, but I personally love picking up the boxes of it from Maison Brémond. They have three different flavors, raspberry, fig and apricot, and are beautifully packaged with two medium sized squares of the candy. These are not only easy to travel with, but I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t loved this treat. 

My third and final recommendation for the best sweet souvenir to bring home is honey. One of my favorite things to do at any weekly market we visit is peruse the honey vendors. Many times, they will have open pots set out for you to sample and I urge you to do so. Honey is one of those items that tastes different everywhere it is produced, so it’s interesting to try the different kinds, especially in the Provence region. I usually bring home a few different types, such as: lavender, chestnut, and thyme, and they each have their own unique color and taste. To add to the charm, a lot of times the jars will have homemade, handwritten labels. This, along with the fact that the honey is unlike any back home adds to the originality of the souvenir. Each vendor differs from what they offer, but I usually find a stand that sells different sizes and get the smaller jars, which are easy to wrap up and pack away in my suitcase. Most of the sellers also have a deal where if you buy so many of the jars, you get one free, so it ends up costing much less since I usually buy a handful. 

Photo: DavidLebovitz.com

An honorable mention goes to chestnut paste. Sort of similar to our peanut butter, a lot of stores (like our Intermarché) sell it next to the Nutella and jams. I have a handful of friends with nut allergies, so I usually buy a lot of it, but the stores sell it in little tins of four which can be divided up amongst multiple people. Spread on crêpes or just a good old American bagel, this is a unique and very easy to pack and travel item that you can’t find here and people love. 

What are your favorite sweet treats to bring home from France?? What sweet souvenirs have you brought home that have been a hit? 

Let me know below in the comments!

Have a sweet Sunday! -R