France Allergy Experience

#paris #frenchfor3days

I’m glad I can say my 16th birthday trip to Paris was a success and something I will never forget. I’ve never traveled to a country before in which I didn’t understand the language and didn’t know about the food accommodations. In restaurants and grocery stores, the language barrier made it hard to advocate for my food allergies ( only few spoke English). In the grocery store, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of gluten free options available. As you can see in the photo, I found gluten free pasta, bread and cookies! ( “Sans Gluten” means without gluten fyi).However, I wish the ingredients were in English so I could’ve bought an item with certainty I could eat it. Don’t want to take any chances! I was hesitant to trust the French restaurants only because I was in a foreign country for the first time, so I bought food to eat from the US. I packed Scar bread for sandwiches and Enjoy Life cookies for snacks to eat on the trip. Though I couldn’t eat the croissants, baguettes, macaroons, or crepes in Paris, I didn’t feel that my inability to eat these foods dented any part my experience. My life long wish of being in Paris came true, the ambiance was great, and it was truly experience I will never forget. With a little more experience on handling food allergies outside the country, I can’t wait for what my next adventure brings.