This year again, we feel it is important to support local businesses. We have put together this Holiday Gift Guide 2022 to help you connect with independent shops that offer locally made products or products with a purpose; you should find something nice, useful, or tasty to put under the tree.
We also like to support the French brands that are present physically or online, especially as it will be hard to go back to France this winter.
SO FRANCISCO
Rides by Me – Visit San Francisco in a sidecar and in French or in English with Jérôme Ribeiro. An original way to discover San Francisco and its region up close. Several tours are available from Napa to Sonoma as well as the various neighborhoods of the city. It is also possible to develop a custom-made itinerary.
Pep’s Aquarel – How about gifting a watercolor of San Francisco, be it the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, or any other scene of our iconic city? Tiphaine, a French aquarellist who now lives in the Bay Area offers watercolor workshops too. You can even order a custom-made work from a photo, for example.
Seaplane tour – An opportunity to fly without leaving the bay area. With Seaplane Adventures, fly over the Bay Area in a seaplane for an unforgettable trip. You can even request the French-speaking pilot! There are several routes above the city, above the Golden Gate Bridge… Which one will you choose?
FRENCH CULTURE
Annual Pass for the French Theater in San Francisco – The perfect gift for French people and Francophiles. Throughout the season, Molière Academy award-winning plays come directly from France to San Francisco and are performed in the beautiful theater of the Lycée Français de San Francisco (this campus was once the San Francisco Conservatory of Music). Some passes include tickets. All plays are in French. There is also a French cinema program with films subtitled in English.
Concert Polo & Pan – Celebrate the New Year with Polo & Pan and offer tickets to end the year in style with the French electro duo for a festive evening at 1015 Folsom. Be careful, tickets are going fast!
FASHION / CLOTHING
Sézane – if you read MerciSF.com, you know that Sèzane opened a pop-up store on Fillmore Street. Adopt a Parisian style without taking the plane to France. Coats, knitwear, blouses, shoes… So many items for a chic and feminine silhouette. You can also choose among pieces from their men’s collection called October.
APC discreetly landed in San Francisco in the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The French brand created by Jean Touitou now has a storefront… No need to wait for the next trip to Paris to buy clothes – men’s or women’s – from this beautiful Parisian brand, and their signature brut denim.
The sunglasses by The Ocean Clean Up created by famous San Francisco-based designer Yves Béhar, are made with recycled plastic collected from the ocean. All proceeds will go to the ocean clean up: one pair of glasses allows to clean the equivalent surface of 24 football fields. If all the glasses are sold, The Ocean Clean up will be able to remove 500,000 football fields of plastic from the ocean!!!
A tattoo by the French artist Mimi Sama – A manga and “black line” tattooing specialist, Mimi Sama works at Blackserum, the largest tattoo studio in San Francisco.
FOR THE GOURMETS
Domaine Chandon – A tasting at the Chandon estate combined with a visit to the wine area is the guarantee of a good and unforgettable moment in the heart of Napa. You can also decide to gift a membership to the Chandon Club, a gift that lasts throughout the year with wine being shipped several times depending on your level of membership.
Maison du Chocolat – You can never go wrong by gifting chocolates. Leverage the opportunity. Pralines, rochers, dark chocolate : the collection of La Maison du Chocolat is for every taste and everty budget as you can decide to buy simple, but delicious, chocolate bars or more sumptuous boxes.
A tea box from the Palais des Thés: the brand being physically present in New York, you can leverage its vast catalog. Your order is only a few miles away by post away… A smaller selection is also available at One65 in San Francisco or at Maison Alyzée in Burlingame and Mountain View.
HOMEGOODS
La Green Wolf – This is the new item at Bright on Presidio, the European lighting showroom with a French accent in Pacific Heights. This Murano glass table lamp with its joyful and soft colors will illuminate festive tables, and beyond. Cordless and rechargeable, it will find its place in the house or outside all year round. Available in three finishes.
Dyptique – With the opening of its new store on Fillmore, it is the opportunity to rediscover the collection of Diptyque candles and perfumes, a Parisian brand that is so chic, so French. You can also order online.
GIFT TO A NON PROFIT
Pour un Sourire d’Enfant – Some people don’t want gifts but rather like the idea of donating to a nonprofit. You can also make a donation in someone’s name. Pour un Sourire d’Enfant has a local chapter called American Friends of PSE. It is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to building support for Cambodian programs run by Pour un Sourire d’Enfant (“PSE”). American Friends of PSE. Tax identification number The number (EIN) is 45-4554563. All contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
BEAUTY / SELF-CARE
Le Labo is a fragrances brand co-founded by a French man. It now has a retail presence all over the world. They are based in San Francisco and you can find a fragrance that suits you. You can also personalize the bottle with your name. For the experience, go to Le Labo store – 2238 Fillmore Street, San Francisco
Beauty treatment at René Guinot: this very French brand has its own boutique spa in Burlingame and provides various face and body treatments using the brand’s products. By appointment only. You can also shop the extensive René Guinot care collection.
SPORTS
An electric bike at DECATHLON. We tested the Aventon Pace 500 Step Through model, and we really like it for driving around town and braving the San Francisco hills. For a sportier practice and an optimal budget: the Rockrider adult mountain bike is on sale at $99
La skate culture at FTC – THE skate shop opened in 1994 in the heart of Haight Ashbury. It offers boards with original designs but also a range of clothing inspired by the culture born of the skateboard movement. There is something for all budgets, from collector models to more affordable boards. You can also buy online
FOR THE KIDS
Sew Francisco – a sweet collection of adorable baby accessories from soft toys to personalized photo albums to bibs. Handmade by Emeline, with the softest fabrics with a French savoir-faire.
Fly Little Dragons – a toys brand created by a French mom based in the Bay Area, a collection of educative toys.
European Books and Media in Berkeley – One of the rare French bookstores in the USA. We support them unconditionally as it is close to us and we love their selection of French kids’ books, school books (and also the grown-up selection).
Happy Holidays!
