I promise I am done writing about sightseeing so unless you care about eating gluten free, you can skip this post! I always keep records for myself so I can reference back to this for others or for myself if we ever come back.
First stop, the American Airlines lounge & the Capital One lounge at DFW airport. Both lounges do a great job offering gf choices. I actually had a full meal & snacked while we waited for our flights. The Capital One lounge even had these amazing brownies, so I may have packed several for the flight:
The AA lounge had these massive candy jars full of jelly beans, pink starburst, & Hershey kisses, so I may have grabbed a ton of them & dumped them in my purse for the rest of the trip:
On the flight itself, Bryan surprised me & ordered gf meals ahead of time. I was pretty impressed! I mean it is airline food, so it wasn't the best I have ever had, but it was pretty decent & at least I had an option. My dinner was a salad, creamy chicken, rice & veggies, a dinner roll and I even got a cookie for dessert! I ended up having 2 meals both directions and was pleasantly surprised at the convenience. Having said that, they still don't offer gf snacks - everyone else got pretzels while I ate a snack from home:
I had done a ton of gf research before I got there, so I knew where all of the best was - crepes, pizza, pastries, etc. After the Louvre on Monday, Bryan & I were starving because we had came straight from our flight so my family indulged me & let me choose a gf restraunt:
Everything on the menu was entirely gf, including this four cheese focaccia bread:
and they had one of my very favorite dishes on their menu - fettuccini carbonara:
The next day after the O'rsay Museum, when they ate lunch at a local cafe, I walked to Noglu, which is famous in NY & Paris for their pastries. Let's just say I was in pastry heaven!
I got the quiche lorraine (another favorite!) for lunch but I also bought banana bread, brownie, cinnamon roll & chocolate croissant to snack on the next day or so:
If I am being 100% honest, the brownie & croissant were delicious but I thought the banana bread & the quiche were overcooked. I am part of a gluten free community where I write reviews when I travel & subsequently use it to help find restaurants when we travel, so I had to be brutally honest with this review.
That evening was the dinner cruise & it was the best service we had all week! It was a set menu with only a few choices so unfortunately I couldn't have any of the appetizers, so they brought me a bowl of nuts instead, which truly, I love nuts so I was fine with this!
To my surprise, they gave me a laminated sheet with all of the allergens marked for their menu on the boat so I felt very comfortable knowing what I could & could not have. For dinner, I chose the veal:
After our entrees they served a cheese course, which thankfully I could have:
Unfortunately I could not have any of the dessert choices, but they brought me a fruit salad:
which was fine because after the dessert course, they brought us macaroons & a piece of chocolate. For those who don't know, macaroons are made gluten free so I was excited to have my first one in the city:
In Montmartre, my family ate at a cafe that couldn't accommodate me, so I walked around the corner:
I had read lots of reviews about this cafe & knew they had several locations around Paris. They supposedly have the best gf crepes in the city made of buckwheat, which is naturally gf. I ordered an appetizer with camembert cheese, rasberry preserves & walnuts. It was DELICIOUS! I could have ordered that again.
For dinner I ordered a ham, cheese & egg crepe which was also good.
Let me clarify my comment above, when I said the restaurant couldn't accommodate me, they probably could, but my only choice would have been a salad. I'm not a big salad person, I mean I will have a side salad here & there, but that would not suffice as my dinner. the cafes are so small & the kitchens are even tinier, so the chance for cross contamination is very high. And to be honest, most people didn't know what I was talking about when I said gluten free.
So the next morning, my family indulged me once again for brunch & this spot was great! My sister especially loved it & bought a souvenir here:
It wasn't the best breakfast I have ever had, but at least I had options. I ordered the banana pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs. Side note, the service is not the best over here. This day, I think we annoyed our waiter because we had to ask for him several times. I actually was excited to try their banana bread & I asked for it 3 different times, but it was never delivered. At least I got the pancakes!
And the side of egg, they brought me an entire plate which costs twice the cost. Oh-well, at least I had some protein with my sweets!
I was actually excited to have some ice cream or some sort of gelato while I was there & never really saw any so that's why we stopped at Haagen Dazs - at least I knew they had a few gf choices. Surprisingly, there is a lot of ice cream with gluten in it so I have to be really careful because I love my ice cream!
Finally, our last meal in Paris was at:
This is where Bryan & I came on our date night. I had read they had the best gf pizza in all of Paris & it did not disappoint! Usually gf pizza means a thin, crunchy crust, but their dough was thick & bready - just the way I like it!
For dessert, I ordered the brownie & Bryan ordered the cannoli and they were both ok. Nothing exceptional, but again, it was so great eating at an exclusive gf restaurant.
The only other item on my list was a macaroon from Laduree. We saw several locations around town, but I heard they had one at the airport so I waited to buy a box there so they would be fresh when we got home. I got a sample with all of the flavors for the girls to try:
The good news is that I ate great all week & never got sick a single time. What I learned the most is that they have a few gluten free establishments that excel in being gluten free & those are the ones I read about. However, most normal cafes did not understand or have the capability to offer much. But that's ok. I truly appreciate my family letting me choose a meal here & there and I was fine walking to pick something else up when needed. If only I could fly that pizza over to be delivered - it might have been my favorite from the week!
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