END OF YEAR DECORATION
Throughout the holidays, let’s be wary of these LED garlands, made in China, cute but about as eco-friendly as a polyester Santa costume. Head to the site uncoqdansletransat.fr which offers a selection of French products, including an origami-style light garland made in the PACA region. Not cheap (€52) but very pretty… and virtuous! You should know that most tricolor labels are self-awarded: even the most controlled, such as OFG (Origine France Garantie) simply guarantee that “at least 50% of the cost price is acquired in France” or even France Terre Textile which claims “75% of the manufacturing stages carried out in France”… but no more! If we want 100% hexagonal, the solution is perhaps to rely on geographical indications, for example from Alsatian manufacturers (au ptit bonheur.com, alsace-boutique.fr), the historic cradle of festive wooden decorations.
THE DINNER TABLE
Personalizing your table makes all the difference: on the nahen.fr website, everything is made in France. You can have the first names of the guests embroidered who will leave with their napkin or placemat (from €9.90, allow five days for delivery). Want to invest in beautiful glasses? That’s good, glassmaking remains a French tradition. In addition to the best known, La Rochère or Cristal d’Arques, the Simon-Simone brand (simon-simone.fr) offers a chic and affordable selection (around €60 for six wine glasses).
For cutlery, on the site cuisineaddict.com, you can find for example those from Sabatier or knives from Deglon. As for party plates, head to Limoges, with Bernardaud, a great classic, but let’s also mention the Ogre house (ogrelfabrique.com) which guarantees eco-responsible tableware. As for floral decoration, the most “virtuous” flowers in winter are hyacinths, hellebore, ranunculus or anemone: buy them in pots that you will place on the table and replant after the holidays.
THE NEW YEAR’S MENU
For your meals, if you want to avoid deliveries from large brands or dark stores, you have several solutions. The first: put your favorite merchants to work by ordering via the epicery.com site which delivers everywhere in France. You can also take the opportunity to discover new artisans: more than 1,200 addresses are on the platform (delicious bread from Christophe Michalak or chocolates from Pierre Marcolini!). And, if you have neither the time nor the desire to cook, you can also opt, on the same site, for the delivery of ready-made restaurant dishes (breweries, Italians, bistronomy, rotisseries, the choice is vast ). Another possibility if you swear by “homemade”: go directly to the “source”. Several sites offer to deliver products from Rungis (rungisalamaison.com, rungisadomicile.fr, rungismarket.com) but the prices are obviously not those of wholesalers.
THE PARTY OUTFIT
Lamé delivered? Glitter made in France? It’s a little complicated to find but it’s possible. Most French fashion brands manufacture in Europe and not in France, but some resist! They can be found on wedressfair.fr, marques-de-france.fr, madefrance.fr or on the madeinfrance.fr website. On this last platform, quite a few fashion houses (My Taylor is Joh, Et Paris, April & C, Maison Finou) and a proposition that will make nostalgic people smile: the 3S brand. Reissue which, as its name suggests, remanufactures models from the old 3 Suisses mail order catalog in France. For shoes, the choice is wider and can also be ordered online (notably the brands Éram, Repette, Jules & Jenn, 1083, etc.).
GUEST GIFTS
After Christmas, it’s Christmas again! For latecomers and their families and friends who meet on December 31, there is still time to discover brands made in France. Here is a small selection.
1. LESJOLIESPLANCHES.COM
This publishing house of curiosities offers framed drawings, paperweights, puzzles and delightful papers.
2. FABRIQUEDESTYLES.COM
This site has a “made in France” tab full of good ideas, such as Fer à Cheval brand toiletries or wall decorations in the shape of city silhouettes, peaks or islands (yes, the The Line brand is from Marseille!).
LESBOUGIESDEFREDERIQUE.COM
The designer Frédérique Ferniot herself creates in Île-de-France original candles with several “branches” capable of enhancing the most ordinary candle holder. She can even personalize them (around €35 per trident candle).
THREESEVENPARIS.COM
Caroline Petit and her team make tableware and decorative objects to lose your mind in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It’s not cheap (€40 per espresso cup, but it’s worth it). And it’s packaged so well that it arrives in one piece!
EX-LIBRIS.PARIS
This online store offers pretty ink stamps that can be placed on the cover page of books or notebooks (6). You can personalize it with a painting, a house, a boat, a dog, whatever you want! (from €75). The wood for the stamp comes from a forest in Perche.
