I have a hard time justifying paying all that money to send fruit when excellent MI and PA apples can still be had in Nov. When I was a kid, when we went to visit friends and relatives who were "city folk" we would always stop at the excellent orchards just outside of town and pick up a bushel of whatever apples were good that year, and a couple of gallons of fresh cider. Sadly, all those orchards have closed down. I still know where to finds some good local fruit, but I'm doubtful about it weathering the plane trip, even as my carry-on, in stellar shape. It might though, I'll have to think about it. I'll have to ask my folks if they have any good fruit stands in town anymore. It is really a terrible shame, IMHO, to see those great farms of my home town go under. Seems like the kids just can't make a go of it. Thanks for the good cheese tips! Claire, Terri and Barnmom, thanks for the tips about WSU cheese, although your post got me looking online and my alma mater, MSU's dairy also sells cheese online. Fairly pedestrian offerings though, which is to be expected I guess, from my uber-conservative alma mater. But the family friend's dad and my dad went to MSU together, so MSU cheese would probably be a hit just due to that. Maytag blue would be a preference for me, but my family is made up of some foodies and a fair number of meat and potatoes don't give me anything with any flavors except salt and sugar types. I've even wondering about bringing wine to what may be a mostly tetotaling or beer crowd. I misspoke about customs. I just meant regular airport security. Here is a link that might be useful: Michigan State U. Dairy Online

Please don't take this as spam, it is a personal recommendation. This company is very good because they are excited about every trip they plan. It is not just a job for them, they genuinely love what they do. They are a little more expensive than the competition in our city but it is for extra nice accommodations. If you go to a large city anywhere, they have a step on guide to show you the sights of the city and give you the history. On a ship one of them is in the atrium coffee shop 95% of the time to answer question during the cruise. I don't know where you live but if you want to go with them, they arrange your flights and you meet them at the international airport. If you live far away you could not do the bus tours which are great also. I quit because I don't care for cruises and I can't do the long bus tours anymore. Getting on and off the tour bus so many times during the day is to hard on this old body. I would like to go on their Tahiti/Hawaii cruise early next year. You fly to Tahiti, spend 2 nights there I believe and start cruising. You will find it on their sight. Here is a link that might be useful: Kansas group

In 1965 my husband to be and I stayed two weeks in the Hotel Royal Bretagne at 11bis rue de la Gaîté in Paris. Years after I read in Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs that she'd stayed in this hotel for several months in 1937, commuting from her teaching post in Passy. She describes it as a very decent hotel and it still was in 1965 and also in 2000 when my husband was given a room there purely by chance when he attended a conference. A room then cost much more than the 17 francs we paid and was much improved. On this same visit we looked at the nearby Hotel Orfila in rue d'Assas where the Swedish author August Strindberg experienced the psychosis he described in his book Inferno. Another literary place I've actively sought out was Jane Austen's Chawton in Hampshire, on our way from Mottisfont Abbey. We arrived too late to see the inside but the outside loo was open, to our relief. The greatest disappointment was the long detour we made to Little House in the Big Woods near Pepin, Wisconsin, where we had hoped to show our children Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood home. It was a shiny new replica with hardly a tree in sight. 29 years later it looks more weathered in internet photos.

I'd also check out Yountville and St. Helena, if you wanted to stay in Napa. Auberge du Soleil. Recommendations on food and lodging will vary on budget -- the skies the limit in Napa and Sonoma -- and regarding wineries, depending on varietal. Cabs? Chardonnay? Sparkling? Pinot? A little of everything? Recommendations on where to dine en route would vary on what time you are set to arrive. Davis is pretty much en route -- of note there are a couple new regional Chinese restaurants that are reportedly pretty good (eg Chengdu Style), Village Bakery (with pizza), Osteria Fasulo. That might be a counterbalance to what you might expect in Napa or Sonoma. Or you could just drive directly and stop at a place in Napa proper (Oenetri, Kenzo) or near Yountville (Bouchon, Redd Wood, Mustard's, Brix).