Support For My Paris Travel

[Firuze]

Hello,

I am quite unexperienced about gluten-free diet abroad and I am travelling to Paris this weekend for 5 days. I live in Turkey and it is quite a "wheat based" country unfortunately. Here, I need to be carefull about local wines, and fresh cheese (don't know what they refer to with 'fresh' exactly) and even Turkish coffee due to the cc risks during packaging.

It would be great if you could give me some advice about the safe foods in Europe.

Can I trust every cheese and even cream cheese?

Are all the coffees (like filter coffee, cappuccinos or mochas) ok to have?(I believe they should be unflavoured right?)

Can I enjoy French wines or should I ask about their production process?

Thank you all in advance!

[Gemini]

Hello,

I am quite unexperienced about gluten-free diet abroad and I am travelling to Paris this weekend for 5 days. I live in Turkey and it is quite a "wheat based" country unfortunately. Here, I need to be carefull about local wines, and fresh cheese (don't know what they refer to with 'fresh' exactly) and even Turkish coffee due to the cc risks during packaging.

It would be great if you could give me some advice about the safe foods in Europe.

Can I trust every cheese and even cream cheese?

Are all the coffees (like filter coffee, cappuccinos or mochas) ok to have?(I believe they should be unflavoured right?)

Can I enjoy French wines or should I ask about their production process?

Thank you all in advance!

Hi Firuze......I have never been to France but as as fan of French cooking and food, I cannot imagine the French would pollute their cheese with a gluten component, unless they make beer cheese or something like that. Straight cheese should be gluten-free in any country.

I think most cheese, unless a processed spread, would be fine. Ditto for cream cheese but always check the label or ask.

I drink red wine but do not usually drink French wines. South American and American wines abound here so I drink those. As the French are master wine makers, I would think they would be safe. That doesn't sound too sure, does it? You can never say never but those things, generally speaking, are always gluten-free.

The only thing I do know is that in some European countries, they use grains in some of their coffees. These can include barley.

They caution you to avoid brewed coffee, usually the kind served at a buffet in a hotel for breakfast. I always drink cappuccino's and latte's when traveling, from a coffee house or restaurant and never had a problem. Usually espresso roast does not contain barley or grain products. This from my friend who came from the Czech Republic.

There is a bakery in Paris which is gluten free and the name is Helmut Newcake. Do a Google search on it and if you find yourself in

the area, it is your duty to go and eat some gluten-free French pastries and report back to us on the experience! I hope you have a marvelous time!

[love2travel]

We were in Paris in September and to be honest had a difficult time eating there. However, that was because we were there for my husband's AGM and meals were pre-arranged (though the hotel and restaurants were notified that I had celiac - it was still very problematic). We managed to skip out of a few events to do our own thing. At one restaurant we went to I was only able to order one item off a menu. We finally found a place that had very classic French food where we enjoyed veal's head and brains, rabbit pate, grouse mousse and so on. It was awesome. Fine restaurants will have things you can eat for the most part. But you must print restaurant cards to take along. They outline what you can and cannot have (basic but really help). The cheeses we encountered (hundreds - we went to fromaggeries) were all safe but you must be sure to ask first.

We go to Europe regularly and have found Schar to be a brand you can trust. Find a DM or pharmacy that stocks Schar products (breads, crackers, etc. - the bread is horrid but the ciabatta buns are good).

Keep in mind that macarons are safe! They are amazing. We bought tons of them. We don't drink coffee, espresso, etc. so I'm afraid I cannot help you with that. But we were assured the wine was safe.

Make sure you contact restaurants in advance to discuss options.

Hope you have a glorious time!

[Firuze]

Hi Firuze......I have never been to France but as as fan of French cooking and food, I cannot imagine the French would pollute their cheese with a gluten component, unless they make beer cheese or something like that. Straight cheese should be gluten-free in any country.

I think most cheese, unless a processed spread, would be fine. Ditto for cream cheese but always check the label or ask.

I drink red wine but do not usually drink French wines. South American and American wines abound here so I drink those. As the French are master wine makers, I would think they would be safe. That doesn't sound too sure, does it? You can never say never but those things, generally speaking, are always gluten-free.

The only thing I do know is that in some European countries, they use grains in some of their coffees. These can include barley.

They caution you to avoid brewed coffee, usually the kind served at a buffet in a hotel for breakfast. I always drink cappuccino's and latte's when traveling, from a coffee house or restaurant and never had a problem. Usually espresso roast does not contain barley or grain products. This from my friend who came from the Czech Republic.

There is a bakery in Paris which is gluten free and the name is Helmut Newcake. Do a Google search on it and if you find yourself in

the area, it is your duty to go and eat some gluten-free French pastries and report back to us on the experience! I hope you have a marvelous time!

Hi, i have just been back from my Paris trip, and it was marvelous!! It would last pages if i start talking about it all but here is the part about eating:); the Helmut Newcake bakery is a wonderland! I tried many thigs and took away cereals and soup mixtures. I could not taste their lunch or dinner service as they are closed on mondays&tuesdays an they serve only brunch on Sunday. I loved their walnut cake and lemon pie!

There are a few more alternatives for lunch and dinner in the city like Noglu restaurant, Fee Narure and La Timbre. I did not try them due to their schedule so i strongly advice u to check their timetables in advance. I was able to eat omlettes, french fries and drink coffee almost everywhere..

What i adored the most was their bio/natural shops with all the variety of gluten-free products. La Vie Claire was my favourite and the supermarket "Monop" also had too many stuff.

I enjoyed their perfect coffee and madelaines a lot:)

I also visited Eurodisney and they had special dishes packed for allergens and was very tasty.

Bonsoir

[Celiac Mindwarp]

Great news. Paris is very special