Ah, France. Land of cheese and baguettes. A country of delicate, fluffy pastries and croissants, of pies and crepes, and so much more. I lived in France before I was diagnosed as celiac, and my copious consumption of gluten in the form of bread products and pastries certainly led to my finding out fairly dramatically that my body was not able to tolerate it. The good news is that these days, traveling in France is very possible while strictly gluten free.
Being a celiac in France means availing yourself of all the wonderful, quality base ingredients that are found throughout the country. In the years since my diagnosis in the early s, the country has become much more inviting for celiacs. This guide will help you navigate the dishes you will find, as well as offer alternatives when you are eating out. This detailed gluten free restaurant card will help communicate your eating restrictions, and allow you to understand what is safe and unsafe from the menu.
Note: The card is available for purchase via Gumroad, a trustworthy 3rd party site that uses Stripe, so you know your information is safe. I used several different translation cards on my travels, and I still got sick.
I may be more sensitive than some celiacs, but even a small amount of frying oil that had contact with wheat, or wheat-thickened sauce in the food, is enough to make me ill for days. Let alone the joint pain later that week, and the fatigue.
And regardless of whether we feel it or not, ingesting any amount of gluten is a problem if we are celiac. You can save it to your phone and have it with you as you travel, or you can print it out and laminate it to take along. I will also send a second downloadable file, a PDF version that is easy to print, with English on one side and French on the other so that you can follow along. While the card above contains the safest way to communicate celiac disease in France, here are three quick phrases that you can also use:.
