Travelling with coeliac disease means every meal abroad carries risk, and a recent short break in Paris showed both sides of that coin. The writer, diagnosed only last year, had been burned before in rural France — unspecified charcuterie, baguette crumbs everywhere and no safe shops nearby. So she arrived in the capital with low expectations, despite other coeliacs insisting the city caters well.
The first stop, Le Pigalle, a quirky four-star boutique hotel in the once-notorious red-light district of South Pigalle, was a confidence booster. Staff understood cross-contamination and prepared food separately, with a well-cooked omelette as the coeliac-friendly breakfast anchor. Rooms start from £215 a night, and the hotel is a short walk from the Moulin Rouge.
Then came the setback. At the five-star Molitor Hotel — a former public pool, classified a historic monument in 1990 and reopened by Accor as an Art Deco-styled hotel over a decade ago — a dessert was labelled gluten-free on the rooftop restaurant menu. When questioned, staff assured the biscuit on the chocolate mousse contained no gluten. It did. The writer fell ill and lost an evening of the trip. The hotel apologised, upgraded the room and says its chef has reviewed every menu and allergen list, but the incident is a stark reminder that even top-end kitchens get it wrong.
A silver lining: it forced her out to Paris's dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Copains, which has several Paris branches and recently opened two in London, turns out croissants, éclairs, fruit tarts and breakfast rolls that never feel like a compromise — though they're pricey. Noglu, lower-profile but just as good, delivered an almond pastry and peanut cookie her non-coeliac husband couldn't believe were gluten-free.
Restaurants proved surprisingly easy. Breizh Café serves buckwheat galettes grown on its own Brittany farm — naturally gluten-free — with staff who know their cross-contamination; the truffle, Brittany ham, comté and fried egg version comes recommended. Loulou, an Australian diner minutes from Notre-Dame, offers a mostly adaptable menu and a separate chip fryer. And for a splurge, Passionné, a Michelin Guide restaurant on Rue Bergère, runs a fully gluten-free tasting menu heavy on seafood — caviar, trout three ways, a tea-flavoured dessert.
Getting there is straightforward: Eurostar from London St Pancras to Gare du Nord from £39, taking around two and a half hours.
The takeaway for anyone with coeliac disease or serious allergies: even in a well-prepared city, you need to double-check everything, trust your instincts when a dish looks suspect, and know where the safe bets are. Paris's dedicated gluten-free bakeries and naturally gluten-free Breton galettes make it a genuinely workable destination — just keep your guard up at hotel restaurants.
