Detailed Gluten-Free Restaurant Card — France

Yes, you can still eat well in France

France’s celiac awareness has grown quickly. Paris has dozens of dedicated gluten-free bakeries and restaurants, and Brittany’s 100% buckwheat galette tradition is naturally gluten-free when made on a dedicated griddle. AFDIAG, the French celiac association, publishes eating-out resources, and supermarket “sans gluten” aisles are well stocked in major cities. I still ask my questions every time.

What’s on the card

• A clear explanation of la maladie cœliaque in French, so the kitchen treats it as medical
• What I can’t eat and where gluten hides: béchamel and other roux-based sauces, galettes that need confirming as 100% sarrasin with no wheat mix, frites that usually share fryer oil with breaded items, andouillette and saucisson that can contain wheat
• What’s usually workable: a cheese plate (most cheeses are gluten-free) and salade niçoise without croutons
• The kitchen questions — including “Is the galette 100% buckwheat, with no wheat flour mixed in?” and whether a dish can be made without flour, breadcrumbs, or bread contact

What’s in the travel companion (page 2)

• How I pick restaurants: asking “Avez-vous un menu sans gluten ?”, checking AFDIAG’s resources at afdiag.fr, heading for dedicated gluten-free bakeries like Helmut Newcake in Paris — and staying out of regular boulangeries, where flour dust is everywhere
• Six dishes worth ordering (bouillabaisse and cassoulet only after confirming no flour), shopping notes (Schär, Gerblé Sans Gluten, Valpiform, and Carrefour’s Sans Gluten own brand), and where options cluster — Paris’s 3rd and 11th arrondissements, Lyon, Bordeaux, Brittany
• If you get glutened: the pharmacie phrase “je suis cœliaque et j’ai mangé du gluten,” and 112 EU-wide or 15 for SAMU medical

The honest certification picture

France has a real celiac association — AFDIAG (Association Française Des Intolérants au Gluten) — with eating-out resources. On packaged foods, look for the épi de blé barré (crossed-grain mark) and the EU-regulated “sans gluten” claim (max 20 ppm). Those marks certify packages, not the brasserie’s pan — the card covers the table-side part in French.

Format

Instant download. Two-page PDF — print it or show it from your phone.

This card helps communicate your dietary needs. It does not guarantee a gluten-free meal or eliminate cross-contact risk. Always use your judgment, and when in doubt, do not eat. Not medical advice.