Thanks Ray....I'm leaning towards the idea of getting in touch with her dad, that's if another FB member is willing to do that for us. I think there's a very good chance he will shoot the whole thing down, but if he does, at least it wont cost us anything. But he is the one who would know best I think what they'd like. I can propose the Dom Perignon and gift certificates at a local store as alternate ideas. I will try to get the ball rolling tomorrow.

[QUOTE=Ray4AJ;256204]

I think a consumable could be better suited. I also thought maybe a gift certificate for something local, though I imagine she does a lot of her shopping in Paris. Here is the association of Rue fesch merchants. I thought they might have a gift certificate that any of their members would accept, but I'm not going to try to find out. https://fr-fr.facebook.com/comitecommercants.ruefesch


A gift certificate has a lot to recommend it: It doesn't cost much to mail and it allows Alizee to pick her own gift. I was thinking maybe a certificate from one of the major Parisian department stores. Alizee goes to Paris fairly often, and the best stores carry luxury items. There is a possibility that those top rank stores might be able to contact Alizee and deliver the card. We could probably talk to someone in the sales department in English and make this arrangement. I've heard that Harrod's in London does this sort of thing.

http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/en...rtment-stores/

One of my hopes relative to the telescope was that Alizee might post her photo on FB standing beside it. But then, she might not.

Normally I'd say there would be a less than 1% chance she would do that, but for a wedding gift? Maybe she would. :13:

I think it might be more likely she'd post a picture of someone else looking through it.

An update on today's progress.

I contacted a member of FB who at this point is willing to contact Jo with our idea. But he said he can also contact a woman who is very, very close to the family. I think a woman might be more receptive to the general idea, but less receptive to the telescope idea. She may give us a good idea as to whether Jo would be agreeable to this too, if we decide to contact him also. Depending on what members have to say tonight, I will contact the gentleman from FB tomorrow and let him know if it's her we want to contact first.

Normally, I would not go with consumables. However, Dom Perignon is a great idea. I would prefer this over the gift certificate. They received a lot of gift certificates. they would barely notice another one. However, the Dom would be something to be enjoyed that they would not typically buy for themselves due to cost. It is a perfect fit with the event, could be purchased locally, and would leave an impression. :)

I agree that Dom Perignon is a good option. It is usually well noticed when one is received as a gift. I just wonder if Alizee would partake? I think she'd at least have a little bit. But at this point, all three options are still on the table.

Today's update. The gentleman on Facebook who is so graciously doing this for us will contact the close friend tomorrow. Judging on what she says, we may or may not contact Jo.

No news on the Mediterranean front.

Word has been received that Jo thinks a certificate would be a good idea. Now we have to figure out what store or shop to get one at. I am still waiting to see what the friend of the family has to say if they respond.

We know how much she likes foot wear. This is a store I passed by on my first day in Ajaccio on my last vacation. I don't know what else they sell?

EDIT: Found out it looks like they sell just ladies accessories. They have a FB page....
https://www.facebook.com/Casanera-Aj...5530155/photos

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Casenera looks like a great store that sells jewelry Alizee would surely love, and it's in Ajaccio. It suffers none of the complications presented by the telescope. Even if they don't offer gift certificates (which seems highly unlikely), we could probably open an account with them and put some money into it, so Alizee could draw off it.

My only objection, is that anything Alizee might buy from them and be photographed wearing, we will never know that it was bought on our dime. Still, there is a possibility she might send a thank-you note. However, I would rather have the photo.

Latest update. Still hoping to hear from the close friend of the family. Looking into a gift certificate type of gift, the main problem being there are no large department type stores apparently in Ajaccio where they would have many choices of gifts for him and her. I'm doing some research on line and have come up empty so far. The store I mentioned in my previous post doesn't look to be a bad choice with the exception I had hoped to get something for both of them and this store apparently is only for women, but in that case, maybe we could suggest maybe something too for Annily which might make this more appealing to them.

It's also possible she might not like that store I suggested, so maybe we'll try and contact Jo again to see what he thinks of it.

I believe someone suggested a gift certificate for the small mall they have in Ajaccio which doesn't seem like a bad idea, but I don't know if it's possible to get something like that specifically for that mall.

EDIT: Here's another place I found in Ajaccio that again only offers stuff for her and it looks like kind of a pricey place.

https://www.facebook.com/galeries.aj...ends?pnref=lhc

The best option along these lines would probably be if not a gift certificate, maybe a prepaid credit card. The down side of that would be they might use it for little things like gas and groceries in which case in the end, there will be nothing to remember us by.

As far as getting them a card, mailing one from the U.S. would I think be out of the question because I think there is no way to insure it if it goes to the wrong address. We could hopefully have one delivered to some one in Ajaccio from a French site, who would forward it to her, so I'm sure we can safely get this done if we choose this option.

At this point, I'm leaning towards the store I mentioned, because I think it's more likely they'll get a gift they remember, but I'm far from done doing research. EDIT: I just received a response from a question I sent to their FB page and this store does sell gift certificates.

EDIT: I think we have enough pledges for either just a gift certificate for 500 euros or maybe a gift certificate for 400 euros and a bottle of Dom Perignon.

EDIT:EDIT: Well the solution as to where to get a gift card shouldn't be as much a problem as it has seemed to be. It would have been nice to have gotten one in Ajaccio, but unfortunately, the choices there are too limited. Why not a store in Paris? I found this site in that refers to 4 of the most famous department stores there.
http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/en...rtment-stores/