A Selection of typical faire available on the streets of Paris... sighhhhhh....
Before we left for France and England, Selena a blogging friend of mine, AKA http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/ had said to let her know how things went for me being a gluten free eater in Paris.. She too is gluten intolerant and over the past couple of years, we have shared recipes, and tips on where to eat when traveling (mostly within the states,) and generally commiserated with each other about living life without "real" bread...
I can't remember which of my girls asked me a couple of years ago, what my favorite thing to eat in the whole world was? I answered without a pause,,, Bread...
I LOVE bread, crusty, artisan, nutty, seeded, pecan raisin filled, sourdough, baguette, levain... you name it... and I have LOVED it to bits..., but alas..., it did not love me, or should I say the protein (gluten) in the wheat used to make bread, did not love me, and in fact had made me quite sick for many years without me knowing it. Which is why I no longer eat any foods with wheat, barley, rye or oats...
So here I found myself in what must be the "BREAD EATING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD".... I have just one question... Does everyone walk around this city with a baguette in their purse, backpack, or back pocket, ready to pull out and chomp at a moments notice...? It seemed that every time I walked outside in Paris, there was someone, walking along pulling a fresh baguette out of its paper sleeve and taking bite after bite of tasty, crusty, crunchy delight! Even our taxi driver had a half eaten baguette in the front passenger seat of his vehicle!
So truthfully, this was a not so easy part of the trip, and if I could do it over, I would rent an apartment, where I could make food, I would go shopping in the open air markets, and learn to forage for GF foods like I do at home...
In fact, when I return to Paris, I shall rent an apartment, and do research to find where the Gluten Free bread is to be had, because as I have figured out,,, The French do food like nobody else..., and somewhere I just know, there is a GF bakery hidden away in some corner of Paris, selling, the BEST GF breads, croissants, and all manner of tasty treats done exquisitely well, because exquisite food is what Paris is all about, and why would their Gluten Free food be any different?
2 comments:
Did you find that most restaurants worked with you and your allergy? I must admit that the reason we don't travel any more is just how hard it is. We kind of stick to the I-5 corridor and places that we are familiar with. I tend to get quite stressed out and emotional when I can't find food easily. And yet a part of me wants to show the children other parts of the world.Thanks for sharing this part of your trip with us.
I know what you mean about getting "stressed out and emotional," and yes the restaurants were very helpful and I didn't have any gluten mishaps through the whole trip. In fact England more than France it seems is become much more GF savvy. I was told that Sainsbury's sells a GF loaf called "Genius Bread."
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