Gluten-Free in Paris and Pau?

[FuriousOyster]

My husband and I will be in Paris and Pau for a week in early March. We're both gluten-intolerant and have dairy and egg sensitivities, and we're looking for inexpensive (under $30 for an entree), accommodating restaurants (preferably with an English-speaking staff so that we're able to communicate our needs). (We do have the celiac dining cards, but a friendly staff makes all the difference.) We'd also be interested in suggestions for eating outside of restaurants; we're open to visiting markets or grocery stores that are likely to have things like meats identified as gluten-free. I also wonder if there are foods or drinks that we are likely to encounter that are definitely (but not obviously) safe or unsafe for us. I have read that France is not a great place for people with celiac disease to travel, so I would really appreciate any tips people can offer!

[souphie]

France is not indeed a great place for gluten-intolerant people. Wheat is by and large the base of food. Turn to organic stores for gluten-free, and dairy free ingredients. Naturalia is a chain with many shop all across Paris. Biocoop also will have stuff. Does meat have gluten? I don't think so and you wil find many good sources across the city. The good news is, there are top quality vegetables, and then again the best source is the organic market (esp Jancar) on sat (bd des Batignolles) and sun (Bd Raspail). Other great sources include Thiébault on wednesdays (av. du Président Wilson).

Restaurants are even trickier. Asian and Indian should be your main choice. There are some vegetarian restaurants, again in the bio/organic move, but not many and they are not particularly good.

[rrems]

We stayed in Pau for 2 days last October. It is a city that has always been very popular with the British so you will probably not have difficulty communicating your needs. The restaurants we tried are Chez Pierre and Brasserie le Berry. The Berry has a huge menu with many meat dishes (the specialty is chateaubriand) which you could have without sauces, salads, a delicious smoked herring. I don't think any of the dishes I had contained any flour. Chez Pierre is a very good and very traditional restaurant, and many of the dishes would certainly follow the classic French recipes and rely heavily on flour and/or dairy, but I would inquire beforehand and see if they can accomodate because it is probably the best restaurant in town. Hope you have a great trip!

[Bob Loblaw]

w/the language barrier, this won't be easy - at least for restaurants.

There are plenty of places that will have some sort of meet and potatoes items on the menu (steak frites, etc.) and then there are any number of meals that don't usually have any sort of wheat products that i can think of (cassoulet comes to mind, but maybe cause it's so cold!). the thing is, you never know when the sauce will be thickened w/ flour! definitely stay away from coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, bearnaise sauce, etc. really, btwn dairy, eggs, and gluten, all the sauces or anything stew like would be risky. you can always say "sans sauce, s'il vous plait" i guess. kinda missing out.

but the markets are great. cheese, seafood, meats... and as far as i know, wine is gluten free and you should take advantage!

Souphie - (OP probably knows this) - a lot of asian places use soy sauce that's made w/wheat. kinda hard to avoid there, too!

[FuriousOyster]

Thanks, souphie, rrems, and Bob, for all the helpful responses so far. Things do sound rather bleak, but it's better to be informed than to get terribly sick. Yes, Asian food presents a difficulty because of the soy sauce. The offending gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Sometimes these ingredients are present in heavily processed food including meats. Wine, however, is definitely gluten-free, so we won't be missing out on everything good. Plus, it looks like we'll get to spend a lot of time at the markets.

[souphie]

that's why you can rely on Parisian butcher -- just don't buy processed meat, but the norm here is the raw meat. So the prospects are not that bleak re shopping, since you can easily know what you are buying. It's the restaurants that worry me a bit more, especially the lower end ones.

[FuriousOyster]

Thanks, souphie. My husband says that we should plan to spend more on food, so I hereby remove the price limit. :) Hopefully that will make it easier to find some safe options. It certainly is the case here (in Philadelphia) that the nicer restaurants are more accommodating.

[ChefJune]

no gluten in fish and seafood, either. There's a lot of good fish in France!

[patz]

I just came across this - I hope it helps!
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives...

[FuriousOyster]

Thanks, patz. I've ordered the book he recommends.

[plafield]

Here's a link to some cards that you can print out and bring with you that explain, in detail in French, about gluten intolerance. You can show these to your waiter in any restaurant and he can communicate your needs to the chef.
http://www.celiactravel.com/gluten-fr...

[FuriousOyster]

Thanks, plafield. I have the Triumph dining cards (in ten languages), but the ones you recommend are a bit more concise (and have the advantage of being disposable). (Plus, I don't have a German card from Triumph, so I'll print one off to supplement my German speaking skills on another leg of the trip.) Thanks for the suggestion!

[jgoldste]

I'm sympathetic to your plight and hope this might help- there's a wonderful place called the Litchi Bar, in the 6th. It serves fresh juices and delicious soups (plus quiche and cake, not on your menu) made from very fresh ingredients. It's casual- soups are 4-7 euro each- but nice for a quick break for lunch when you need to recharge. The two staffers are very friendly and speak English. I think almost all the soups (they do three a day) are gluten-free- they tend to add something like quinoa or rice, but the body of the soup is veggies and broth, and you can certainly grill them on how everything's prepared. They are absolutely delicious and full of flavor. It's located in the Marche couvert de St. Germain, near metro Mabillon- so added bonus, if there's nothing to tempt you that day, you can go shopping in the covered market, which has a big organic ("bio") selection plus every other kind of market stand, all very fresh and sometimes with free nibbles. Googling Litchi Bar should pull them up, i think. Good luck!