Food in Paris, strange question

A lot of cafes serve brunch now. Or you can go to Breakfast in America on rue des Ecoles in the Latin Quarter where you can order eggs & bacon, American style.

the typical breakfast at a hotel will have boiled eggs and cheese available.

i don't think it's a problem to limit carbs in paris. it's very easy to get just meat and veg, if that's what you want.

sweetener is not as readily available as it is in some countries. if you drink coffee...bring your own. diet/light sodas are available but i always drink water instead.

I was basically on the South Beach diet for almost a full year a few years ago and did just fine on countless trips to France.

Breakfast is a bit more complicated than other meals, because the standard breakfast is usually croissants,s rolls,jam, and coffee, but I just stocked up on yogurt and cheese at a local alimentaire and kept them in my hotel minifridge.

The rest of the meals were easy - no problem just having salads and meat and veggies and cheese and more cheese...

Yes...where else in the whole world could be better for a diet that basically has unlimited wonderful cheese, eggs, green veggies/salads and meat??
Just leave the bread and pastries and you are fine!

How does one go to Paris and not eat bread and pastry??? LOL

Find a hotel with a mini frig/honor bar. Buy sliced ham, cheese, plain yogurt. As other mention, breakfast will be the only tricky meal.

If there happens to be a coffee maker (or you might want to take your own)... did you know you can make 3 hard boiled eggs in a small melita style drip coffee maker? Clever trick we learned traveling Mexico.

The 4 food groups are, in no particular order,

WINE
CHEESE
BREAD
CHOCOLATE

I find it very easy to be go low carb in Paris.
I eat plenty of fruit, salads, veggies and cheese and fish/chicken. I often have wonderful omelets in the cafes, no problem at all!
It is very easy to eat whatever you want in Paris..

When I was in Paris a year ago, I think I had an omelette every morning for breakfast. The cafe next to my hotel made one for me every morning, with whatever I requested. I did have to ask that it be cooked "well done" (I don't remember the phrase in French).

I don't eat a lot of carbs either and found it pretty easy to manage in Paris. For breakfast I would order an omelet at a cafe..they usually come with a croissant, but you can either ask them to leave it off or give it to a dining companion!

For lunch, I'd get a salad with protein...there are fabulous salad nicoise...grilled salmon etc. Dinner....my favorite is steak tartare!

I also would keep cheese and sliced meats/salami in my room in the mini-bar.

Have a great trip!

margy

Of course, I have no will power and therefore cannot resist pain au chocolate and tarte tatin and a croissant sometimes..

My favorite salad was one from Le Flore en l'Ile - salad with chicken livers. Fabulous! It had croutons on it but you could push those to the side. And of course, vinaigrette has no carbs in it.

Just about every Bistro in France (especially Paris) has wonderful salads..and Onion soup...you will eat well and have a ball!

When I stayed at hotels in Paris the breakfast buffet included lunchmeat, fruit & cheese. But my favorite is always the breakfast yougert with fruit preserves. YUM YUM!

Regarding minibars and buffet breakfasts, it depends on the class of the hotel. If you are watching costs, consider renting an apartment, so you can have breakfast at home.

Hi D,

You can always go to a monoprix or other grocery and get some cheese, yoghurt, etc for bkfst and eat it on a park bench.

Bring a spoon.

Have a nice low-carb visit.

Thank you everyone. I feel better, I was worried Paris would be so 'foodie' that I'd have a hard time. I always hear about the wonderful food and wish I'd gone back before I knew what was wrong with me, when I could still eat.

With regards to the pastries, my husband will buy them and I'll try a small bite, so I will at least get to taste some of the famous Parisian pastries.

I will also bring some beef jerky and almonds for emergencies. I can eat cheese, but not yogurt.

Merci beaucoup!
D

If it's not too late for this thread, Flore en Ile, at the tip of Ile St Louis just over the bridge from the backside of Notre Dame, whips up very good omelettes in the morning.

I highly recommend Breakfast In America. I was there at the beginning of February and it was terrific. We stayed at the Hotel Minerve a couple of doors down and while we ate French food the entire rest of our trip, the greasy (in a GOOD way) protien-filled breakfast hit the spot after a particularly late night at a disco. I'm sorry to hear you can't enjoy the breads in Paris, but to my way of thinking, that just leaves room for more FOIS GRAS!!!!! Oh, and if you still need to know, well done is "bien cuit", pronounced bee-eh kwee (sort of). Have a great time!

Make that more like "bee on kwee", with the stress on the "on", and you'll have it.

If you want a light breakfast, head for Le Pain Quotidien; you can have fresh orange juice and beautifully prepared soft-boiled eggs.

More like "Be Anne", I'd have said

Yes, it's more like 'Be Anne' as PatrickLondon says.

Demented,

Have you considered that you might have a gluten intolerance rather than a carb problem in general? Celiac disease is much more common that you would expect, almost one in a hundred people in North America, and it would certainly explain your problem with bread and even sugar too. Contact me if you want more information: hotta@sympatico.ca

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I'm working with several speicalists right now and am not too worried about Celiac's. I can eat bread and sugar but it makes me fat and messes with my lipid and sugar levels. My reference to getting sick was in the sense that I've been eating low carb for so long it would be a huge, painful shock to my body to eat a bunch of carbs--I don't want to spend my vacation in the bathroom.

D

Demented,

Keep celiac disease in mind and suggest it to your specialists if they don't find another answer.

Before I was diagnosed I spent much of my holidays in bathrooms. I thought it was the water or the sugar since I knew I was borderline hypoglycemic which often goes along with CD. Never suspected it was the bread! But I did discover on my own that it was best to avoid simple carbs and concentrate on complex ones, like fruits and vegatables, plus proteins.

Breakfast in France is indeed the most difficult meal if you're trying to avoid bread. Most hotels will make you a soft boiled egg for a small extra charge. Ask for "un oeuf a quatre minutes". Some hotels will even let you keep cheese and fruit in their fridge so you can have that in the morning.

You've gotten some good advice from other repondents such as renting an apartment or finding a restaurant near your hotel that makes omelettes in the morning.

Because French chefs tend to cook from scratch, you shouldn't have a problem getting safe food for lunch and dinner. If you don't speak French, get someone to translate your restrictions for you and print them on small cards that you can show.

Bring some safe food along for emergencies. Almonds and other nuts are great. And carry a spoon like Ira suggests so you can picnic outside.

Just don't let your dietary restrictions keep you home!

I'm not going to analyze your medical situation, but I will suggest that you consider staying in an apartment or apartment-hotel. That way, you can ensure that you won't have to compromise your well-being at breakfast. And contrary to some views here, I have been to many hotels in Paris where breakfast is a basket of croissants and sliced baguettes, served with butter and preserves.

Moolyn: Hello! I get a chuckle just seeing your name and want you to know that I still laugh whenever I think of your Excellent Adventures. It was one of THE best travelogues EVER. Thanks for the continuing pleasure. It was worth all the work it must have taken for you to write it.