Gluten free in France - easy or not?

[breamster]

Hi,

We are travelling to the south of France in a few months time. How readily available is gluten free bread, pasta, biscuits etc in the supermarkets etc? Are restaurants routinely offering gf meals?

Thanks.

[A common lawyer]

breamster said:

Hi,

We are travelling to the south of France in a few months time. How readily available is gluten free bread, pasta, biscuits etc in the supermarkets etc? Are restaurants routinely offering gf meals?

Thanks.

It's hard enough in Paris, let alone in the country. My local bakery does gluten free bread, but you have to order it in advance. There are organic health shops that sell gluten free stuff, but again, that's Paris. The bigger supermarkets, even outside of the big cities, usually have an organic section with gluten free stuff, so if you're self catering you'll probably survive.

It would surprise me to see a restaurant menu with the words gluten free on it. Mostly, you'll just have to figure it out yourself, i.e. stick to salads or meat/veg type meals.

[Fatt McMissile]

I can only comment on Brittany, and you're presumably not passing through here, but some of this may be relevant to the rest of France. Buckwheat flour, blé noir, is available in most supermarkets and is traditionally used for making galettes, savoury pancakes, available everywhere.

Here's a map of France with some of the restaurants that offer some gluten-free cooking: http://sortirsansgluten.com/?page=carte.php

Here's the products that you may find in larger Carrefour supermarkets: http://www.carrefour.fr/nos-marques-carrefour/carr... edit: click on découvrir la gamme

Here's some images of gluten free flours to give you an idea of what to look for: https://www.google.fr/search?q=farine+sans+gluten+...

Have a great time!
Steve

Edited by Fatt McMissile on Tuesday 9th June 09:27

[Lotus Notes]

Most medium to larger supermarkets have 'sans gluten' products in a certain area of the store, there's usually about one hundred products when I've looked. Or try an organic store - For example: http://www.eau-vive.com/pa63/sans-gluten

There's also a website for restaurants: http://www.sortirsansgluten.com/