Special American Items You Just Can’t Get in France
When we visit the United States, Jalen and I are reminded of all the American products that aren’t accessible to us in our daily lives in France. Bringing back little comforts for ourselves and unique products to gift to our French friends and coworkers is one of our favorite things about our trips to the USA. Though we spend a lot of time discussing all of the amazing things France has to offer, we want to highlight some items we like to get from the USA (and that you should definitely leave room for in your suitcase on your next trip!). Here’s a list of things we brought back to France with us from our most recent American vacation.
Baking Supplies
Fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies are an American staple, and cookie mixes aren’t nearly as easy to find in France as in the USA. Now that we have an apartment with an oven, we’ve been dreaming of baking some classic desserts from our childhood! We bought a few cookie mixes as well as an American measuring cup and spoon set that will allow us to follow from-scratch American recipes whenever the cravings hit. We can’t wait to make our Betty Crocker cookies as well as put our American measuring set to use for homemade recipes!
Beauty Products
While France definitely has the upper hand when it comes to all things cosmetics, and we love browsing the aisles of our local French pharmacy, there are a handful of American products that we haven’t been able to substitute. USA-made Tree Hut Scrubs and Hawaiian Tropic After Sun lotion happen to be two such items! With affordable prices and scents that remind us of the summers we spent in the USA, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to restock. The real challenge will be getting them to last until our next visit to the States!
Mexican Food
French food is outstanding, but we seriously miss America’s take on Mexican food here in France. The French palate tends to reject anything spicy, so anything reminiscent of habanero, serrano, chili, chipotle, or jalapeño is out of the question. We’re mostly obsessed with America’s version of Mexican food rather than authentic Mexican cuisine, as that’s what we loved most growing up in the USA. Some flavored rice, queso dip, tomato salsa, and taco seasoning are just what we need to whip up a nostalgic “Mexican” meal in our French kitchen.
Over-the-Counter Medicine
The French are more conservative than Americans when it comes to over-the-counter pain medication. You won’t find pain meds at convenience stores in jumbo bottles, but rather in small boxes of around 10 to 30 pills, only available in pharmacies. Paracetamol, aspirin, and ibuprofen are even located behind the counter! Plus, triple combination medicines like the Migraine Relief we bought are less common – and after one experience of having to purchase 8 aspirin, 8 paracetamol, and 16 caffeine pills as a replacement, we decided to stick to sourcing this kind of medicine from the States.
Pumpkin Spice Products
France’s celebration of the fall season and Halloween is muted at best. If you’re an American autumn lover in France like me, you know that it just doesn’t compare! While I always keep a jar of pumpkin pie spice in my French kitchen cabinet, I decided to grab a few seasonal items, like this pumpkin spice coffee and candle, to experience the taste and smell of fall in France! I’m excited to light my candle and enjoy my coffee in front of a horror movie. If that wasn’t enough to illustrate my penchant for fall products, the four bags of candy corn my sister gifted to me are not pictured!
State Souvenirs
We’re guilty of sporting “I heart Reims” shirts, Troyes keychains, and Paris tote bags on the regular, but we also enjoy repping our home state of Virginia from time to time. Throwing on a comfortable piece of home is a delight that anyone who has ventured away from the place they grew up will understand. With a slogan as sweet and iconic as “Virginia is for Lovers,” we couldn’t help but grab a shirt and sweatshirt from The Virginia Shop! We know that France is the right place for us, but Virginia will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Dip Mixes
American dips and sauces are unparalleled, and many of the unique flavor profiles just don’t exist in bottles on the shelves of French grocery stores. Since we can’t very easily transport a bunch of ranch dressing and buffalo sauce across the Atlantic, we like to use these seasoning mixes instead. We apply the wing seasoning directly to chicken and mix up the different dips with some crème fraîche épaisse to enjoy the flavors of the States in France! While it’s not exactly like eating in the USA, it comes pretty close!
When we’re filling up our suitcases in the USA, we avoid purchasing anything that will be thrown out in the near future. Instead, we gravitate towards things that we need (like medicine), that we can consume (like food products), or that we will cherish (like clothing items). That way, we can bring our favorite stuff to France without hurting our wallets or the environment. Are these the types of purchases you make when you’re headed back to France from the States? Let us know in a comment!
3 Comments
Vagabonde
You have a delightful blog. I have read many of your posts and enjoy them, but at the same time it made me so homesick. I am French, raised in Paris, but on the inverse from you I have lived in the US for a very long time. What I miss the most here are the variety of French cheeses! mostly artisan goat cheeses. And also the good dark chocolate. But you are right, I went to the grocery store this week and everything is pumpkin flavored (I don’t care for it much.) Some of the food you miss from the US, I am not that fond of either, like ranch dressing. Oh la la, c’est sans goût. But living in the South so long I now also like the southern cuisine very much. I’ll come back to look at your blog, it is very enjoyable.
Jalen & Maria
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! It’s fascinating how much of an impact where you grow up has on what foods you enjoy. We are big fans of southern food as well! Glad you enjoyed this post and hope you get some French goat cheese and dark chocolate soon!
Patrick
Friends of ours from France (who lived in the US for 4 years) have been visiting for 3 weeks and they missed Cheetos, Peanut Butter M&Ms, Amish (American-style) donuts, American quesedillas and some other American sweets like cakes and cookies…it is interesting what one can and can’t get in France. Also interesting is that they hate sweet jello or gelatin desserts and the thought of an ice cream float has them gagging LOL LOL LOL