It’s been a long time dream of mine to visit Paris. For my birthday this year, this lucky girl received tickets to Paris to spend a long weekend there in September. France in general is good for people who have coeliac disease, so gluten free Paris is very much doable for anyone on a gluten free diet.
What to expect from this post?
I researched a lot and prepared thoroughly, marked 100% gluten free restaurants and snack places on a printed map next to major tourist spots, ordered a French coeliac travel card (as I don’t speak the language) and felt pretty confident before travelling. So here I would like to share with you the good and the not so good about our 2,5 days in gluten free Paris.
Gluten free on an airplane
I recently requested a letter from my gastroenterologist to say that I have coeliac disease so I can take an extra bag (of food) within the luggage allowance (subject to airline) as normally our trips to the airport are very long, but this time it wasn’t necessary and I managed to pack all necessary snacks within the normal allowance. But on our way to Paris, on the Vueling plane, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there are a few gluten free snack options in the airplane leaflet. They are clearly marked, see below.
Evening of day 1
We arrived quite late so the restaurant I had picked out thanks to the Find Me Gluten Free app, didn’t serve food anymore, only drinks. We ended up going to a Five Guys nearby. I knew what I could order but didn’t know how to say it in French so I pulled out my travel card. This caused a bit of panic and I received some compassionate looks as the card says that consuming even a little bit of gluten can make me very ill They actually took a lot of time to make sure that everything they served me, was safe for me to have. I felt like apologising a lot because there was a long queue behind us. So I thanked them a lot instead.
Day 2
Just as a recommendation in terms of where to stay, I can’t recommend Ibis highly enough at Bercy village. Sceptical at first, they don’t particularly mark allergens during breakfast service but upon request they provide gluten free bread and there’s quite a few options that are naturally gluten free. We decided to have all our remaining breakfasts at the hotel.
The day turned out to be slightly different as I had planned but we saw the famous Notre-Dame (or what’s left of it) with restoration in progress after the blaze in 2019 and the Eiffel Tower from all angles.
For lunch, we went to the 100% gluten free restaurant NoGlu. As its a popular place, prepare to wait in a queue (sometimes in the rain). I ordered a Buddha Bowl which was good but my gluten-eating fiancé had a sandwich that he didn’t really like.
As our pre-booked Eiffel tour was cancelled due to the lights being switched off in the honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II, I think I have a valid reason to go back. Here are some of the views from Paris.
For dinner, I had luckily booked a table at the lovely Tasca (which is a 100% gluten free Italian restaurant). Our pizzas were amazing, my Parma ham pizza was probably the best gluten free pizza I have ever had. I’d recommend sharing one pizza between two people as we had to ask them to pack two half pizzas for later. Because the main was so good, we decided to have dessert as well. The delicious tiramisu is pictured below. If you like a homemade thick based pizza, you could try this gluten-free pizza base recipe.
Day 3
The next day, we went to see and climb Arc de Triomphe and to see the Louvre. I fell in love with the inspirational surroundings of Arc de Triomphe and a certain 100% gluten free bakery nearby – Helmut Newcake. Tried their gluten free éclair and macarons, different kinds, they were to die for – another reason to go back. I also bought a baguette from there to make sandwiches for the next day and even that was amazing.
For lunch, we went to another 100% gluten free Italian restaurant nearby, called Little Nonna. Had an amazing burger there with a glass of wine. It went down really well.
We aimed for another 100% gluten free restaurant for dinner as it just makes things so much easier when you don’t speak the language. It was the lovely Thai food chain Kapunka. I had the Tom Kha soup as a starter (as I hadn’t had a Tom Kha ever since being diagnosed and it used to be my favourite) and a curry as a main. The pad thai my fiancé had, was, as he said it, the best meal out he has had in a very long time. Highly recommended by us both.
Shopping
Shopping wise, make sure you know what words to look for in bold (such as blé – wheat, blé dur – durum wheat, semoule – semolina, couscous – couscous, boulghour – bulgur, seigle – rye, orge – barley, avoine – oats) so you can definitely avoid them as well as looking out for the crossed grain symbol or plain and simple ‘sans-gluten’ meaning gluten-free. Carrefour is always a safe option but also some others, as I found things to eat in Naturalia for example.
I can recommend the Gerblé gluten-free range as their madeleines were really good. See below an example of some coconut biscuits (that contain butter and eggs) and their packaging that I found in Naturalia as well.
In conclusion
As we had planned a lot more in terms of places to visit, things to see and snacks to have, I have kept this post short with the things we did have time to experience. To my knowledge, there’s plenty of more 100% gluten free options in Paris. It was a lovely trip overall and I recommend Paris all the way.
