We always stock up on the complex bouillon cubes because we make lots of bone broths, soups etc and they have much better ones than the plain chicken/salt cubes in the US. I particularly like the bouquet garnie cubes. I have never had any problems bringing kinder eggs back for the kids; they stock them in the 'duty free' shops at the airport. (for no less cost than in Paris of course because 'duty free' is not really a thing)
I like to buy old champagne flutes. Got 4 beautifuls for 15 Euro at a vide grenier this fall and spent lots more on some last year at the Puces St. Ouen. We lost a lifetime supply of individually chosen flutes in a freak accident a few years ago and have been slowly rebuilding. Champagne is our aperitif at all dinner parties so we use them a lot. We transport them back in sturdy kitchen storage boxes.
My husband buys a cashmere jacket about every ten years -- not cheap but great quality and he wears them a lot until they finally wear out and he gets another.
Dehillerin is great; we actually bought their very cheap steak knives, like many apartments and restaurants use -- they were about 2 Euro apiece and have little bees on them (obviously not genuine languile). they cut meat just fine and we have used them for years and bought a set for a friend whose apartment we use. We used to buy one good kitchen knife each year because apartments always have terrible knives. We would then take them home -- so we have a collection of very good mismatched kitchen knives of various sorts.
Last trip we bought Munch (the Munch exhibit was up) coffee mugs at the d'Orsay. They were perfect for the morning cafe au lait (the apartment cups were small) and we now use them at home for our morning lattes -- beautiful but just the right size.
Silk scarves and wool scarves. Diwali is a chain with good quality scarves in Paris. I have a stunning wool scarf I got a few years ago for winter wear -- soft and silky with a lovely pattern. They have silk too. Be carefully buying street vendor silk scarves -- many of them are kind of stiff and wrinkle easily and just not that nice to use although they are dirt cheap. The perfect 'duty gift' for someone you don't really like. There are good market vendor scarves but you have to be careful.
