My youngest and I caught the red eye from the states to Paris, where we were to meet up with my oldest daughter, who is doing study abroad in Italy. You can read about our eating gluten free in Florence by clicking ‘HERE‘.

A couple of tips:

1. Find out if your airline will serve you the option of Gluten Free. We pre-ordered and Delta airlines was extremely good about serving us gluten free. (I discovered on our return trip home, that we had a MUCH nicer afternoon snack than the regular passengers do) Along with the GF meal we were served a pre-packaged of Udi’s dinner roll for the dinner flight (I am assuming here, the airlines have consistency among the red-eye meal choices, and are similar from flight to flight), which we stuffed into our bags which came in very handy later on. (see my post on Versailles)

2. Pack some protein bars, nuts or dried fruit. As I mentioned in ‘Gluten Free in Italy‘, there really is no street food for grab and go meals, and La Guardia really had nothing but a Starbucks fruit&nut bar. It was handy to have protein bars as an emergency back up, instead of walking around starving. Also, being stranded on a ‘transfer’ flight is stressful enough without having to try and find something to eat in a foreign country, with dietary issues in a limited amount of time between flights. You can put some in your luggage, but also keep a couple on hand for emergencies.

We arrived at our hotel, Residence Hotel Foch, which was cozy, comfy and quaint, having excellent service. Natalie, at the front desk brought us a cafe au lait while we waited for our room, which they kindly were letting us gain access to early! While we waited for my oldest to arrive, we cleaned up and then took a brief tour around the neighborhood. This is a lovely neighborhood, very close to the Arc De Triomphe, and Port Malliot with RER, Metro, and airport transportation buses. Its’ more residential, so it was blissfully quiet at night, perfect for a restful nights sleep after long days of walking the city.

(the view from our room overlooked a quiet courtyard)

When our third member arrived, we headed off to walk up the Arc De Triomphe, and then sat down for an early dinner. We stopped at a little bistro on the Champs Elysée called Le Touring (appropriately named, since it was surrounded by motorcycle & bicycle shops), and they were very accommodating of our need for Gluten Free. They served us potato chips instead of bread, which was just fine by us. Hang on to them and order the Paté de Fois Gras as an appetizer! They will bring bread for those who can eat it, but my daughters used their chips to eat the paté. (I apologize that these food photos here are dark, as I was just learning how to use my new camera, and out of respect for others dining experience, I don’t use a flash)

We then ordered Duck:

This duck was served with a green peppercorn sauce. Be aware, this sauce is NOT gluten free!! Above it is served on the side, but to be safe, I would just request no sauce, or sauce on the side. Typically anything from the hollandaise family are ok. Bernaise is fine as well as Meunière. You will find most french sauces off limits, since they use flour to thicken. Also, I found that in all over Paris, “medium-rare” is blood rare. I had to send my duck back to be fired off a bit more. If you like American medium-rare, order medium and it will be perfectly pink on the inside but not raw.

My most sensitive daughter ordered chicken. French roasted chicken is delicious!:

Another plus, in France, they don’t flour their Pommes Frites!! (french fries) So they are perfectly safe to eat. Just check with your establishment, but my daughter ate them everywhere we went and had no issues. (Those who are sensitive to frying oils shared with floured items might want to steer clear. But I doubt much that much, if anything, fried in the fryer had flour. The french just do not have American fried food as an option. Their starters are pates, steak tartare, smoked fishes and cheese plates. I don’t recall seeing any jalapeño poppers, chicken nuggets or chicken wings of any sort. And my daughter cannot eat food fried in a shared fryer and she was fine. Like I said in my previous posts, if you are celiac, please check in advance of leaving as to what your options are)

And then our third dish was pan seared Veal Chop, YUM!

The sauces were off limits for the girls, but my point here is to show you foods you can eat. Just be sure to request your dish with no sauce unless you are absolutely sure. Many establishments in the city understand ‘Sans Gluten’ and will work to be accommodating. Also, many dishes in Paris have fries as a side, sometimes salad, but are more often – a la carte. So, be sure to order greens.

It was a good start to Paris. A yummy, that is for sure.