Travelling with a Coeliac - the search for gluten free!
- Marissa Marschke
- Jul 31, 2024
- 4 min read
The truth is, managing a Coeliac at home with the right gluten free food, gluten free utensils and processes in place can be good. You get in your routine, and know what spoon is the right one for that pot, and you've realised the ratio differences between gluten free baking and flour baking are rife!
However, travelling outside the house, interstate or internationally is a whole other ball game and certainly not the easiest! But with some helpful tools and tricks, it can be successfully done, and enjoyable!
The gluten free croissant
We travelled from Australia to France and Italy for 4 weeks over Christmas 2023, just 6 months after my daughter was diagnosed. And honestly, I was VERY nervous. I knew the challenges we faced trying to eat out at home, let along in foreign countries where we
don't speak the language! But I'm pleased to say, it was an amazing experience (mostly!).
The best thing we did was download the app FindmeGF which was a location based app that found restaurants near us that were most coeliac friendly and had dedicated GF food. So that was great for eating out at lunch or dinner. It even pointed us to a bakery in Monte Marte Paris, where a baker had spent 10 years perfecting the perfect gluten free Croissant. It was heaven, and my daughter was thrilled! If you want to know where it is - this is the place! La Manufacture du sans gluten.
Airports and Grocery Stores not so gluten free friendly
Where it did get tricky was at the airports and grocery stores. Airports are fast turnover, and mostly our flights were really early in the morning or really late at night, so less food outlets were available. We did manage to find her a microwaveable mushroom risotto that she claimed was the best risotto ever at Charles de Gaulle airport at 6:30 in the morning. Just allow yourself extra time to seek out the options available, and pack your own safe snacks if you can!
Grocery stores in foreign countries are a whole new world, and so is their labelling. Many times my husband and I were standing in front of shelves google translating the ingredients list. France had completely different labelling, and as such it was nearly impossible for us to ascertain the safety of some foods. So we kept it safe and she ate scrambled eggs for breakfast rather than taking a risk with any cereal type items.
Italy the gluten free haven
The contrast to Italy was like we had entered a gluten free haven. Italy is incredibly coeliac friendly. Not only do they have dedicated supermarkets for Coeliac's (with the locals getting significant subsidies every month), complete with bakeries and hot food outlets in the shops (hello Arancini's and Tiramisu!) they also clearly mark SENZA GLUTINE on their packaging which was incredibly helpful. We had endless options at all the restaurants, gluten free pasta, gluten free desserts, Risotto's, Gelato's and cones, and amazing gluten free pizza's. One night for dinner we even stopped in a very small
town somewhere on the outside of Milan and were in awe of their processes for managing cross contamination with the Pizza's. Glove changes, fresh pans, fresh tongs, unreal!
McDonald's, why are you so different in Europe?
Worth mentioning also was that Italy and Switzerland had gluten free Mcdonald's burgers. For my 10 year old who just sometimes wanted to eat an easy burger, she was ecstatic! Why McDonald's in Australia can't bring themselves to be inclusive with a gluten free burger is a mystery to me. And yes I've tried, but only to receive a very blanketed 'it's too difficult' response. And sometimes McDonald's is your only option, and to have a gluten free option was excellent.
Disneyland Paris a gluten free Disappointment
Disneyland Paris was not so gluten free friendly. Unless you were eating in a main restaurant, the faster food options were very limited. We were there for 3 days, and essentially had to spend significant money to sit in a restaurant to eat lunch as we had no other option for our daughter. One day she was only able to eat a hot dog sausage without the bun (or any sauce). For us as english speakers, it was incredibly difficult to communicate to the food and beverage staff anything about allergies, and so it didn't feel safe or understood. We managed, but it was certainly a more strenuous and costly part of the trip when it came to the food side.
Club Med for the Gluten Free Win!
We ended our last week in our first Club Med experience with a skiing adventure in the French Alps. The Club Med we went to was this one here - Peisey Vallandry. It was spectacular, but the food was just amazing. The first day, the General Manager introduced us to the head chef Gabriele. Gabriele then took us all around the beautiful buffet and pointed out how to read the allergen signs, which ones were safe for my daughter and where she should avoid. He also knew she liked crepes, so each morning the crepe chef had a freshly wrapped plate of gluten free crepes ready for her. In addition to this, if she ever wanted some hot chips, Gabriele would prepare these fresh for her and bring them to the table. All meals were eaten in this area, including the ski school which she attended. At the end of the trip, with us having to navigate the ins and outs of gluten free international food, this was simply the best. Not having to worry about what was safe, and whether she had variety in her diet was the best end to our trip we could have asked for. Highly recommend this experience!
I hope this article helps anyone considering travelling with a coeliac, and that you are able to find some useful hints and tips in amongst this information. It's not always easy, and you will feel frustrated at times, but the experience that we had, and the resilience it built in my daughter is just priceless! Happy Coeliac Travelling!
x M
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