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Hi, I was wondering if anyone on this board is a Coeliac or needs a gluten/wheat free diet?

My OH and I are off camping in France in August and he has only recently been diagnosed as being gluten intolerant. He is getting a little worried that he is going to miss out on all the gorgeous French cuisine and I was wondering what is available over there to buy and what we are going to have to take. We only have limited luggage space as we are going on our motorbikes.

We went with my son last year, he is coeliac. There is gluten free 'stuff' available in the supermarkets but it is not as easily available as here. We couldn't find any bread, he ended up with rice cakes and crackers but make sure you have the French/English dictionary and check the contents.

If you go out for a meal make sure the staff understand, my son can't even eat chips if they have been cooked in oil that has previously cooked food containing gluten. Finally remember beer and most spirits contain gluten, my son can only drink cider.

My Mum has Coeliac and was diagnosed about 40 years ago, she has found things are improving both over here and in France for finding gluten free products.  As others have said, many have the large supermarkets now have a special section (dietetique) for special diets, she has found gluten free crackers, pasta, etc. in these sections.

Some health food shops stock a range of gluten free products, particularly from GlutaBye , click on the link to search by french department for shops that stock GlutaBye products. My mum was with me at Easter and we found one of these shops in Tours which had a good selection of gluten free bread, cakes, biscuits, etc. http://www.glutabye.com/GlutaBye/WebPagesFR/Carte_France.htm

In respect of eating out in restaurants, the Coeliac society have a leaflet in french that you can print off explaining what can be eaten and what cannot, I have nearly always found the waiters and chefs to be very helpful in this regard, however they often forget about the croutons on the salad and the wafer in the ice cream!  See link for Coeliac Society. http://www.coeliac.co.uk/glutenfree_living/living/115.asp

When shopping the key words to look for on indredients lists are, 'sans gluten' - gluten free, 'farine de ble' - wheat flour' and 'farine de froment' - wheat flour'.  The good ingredients to look for are 'farine de mais' - corn flour and 'farine de riz' - rice flour.

It is possible to eat well and gluten free in France, have a good time.     

Thank you very much for the very helpful and reassuring answers. I guessed at much, but it's nice to have my thoughts affirmed. I am lucky in a way, as my neice was diagnised with Coeliac about 5 years ago and as she stays with me regularly, I am already experienced with shopping for someone with a gluten intolerance.

We are still waiting for husbands appt for a biopsy to find out the full extent of  his problems, but as he also has Graves (a Thyroid Condition) disease and is awaiting treatment for that too, we're not sure how long it will be for either and are playing it safe for now, as any gluten seems to be knocking him off his feet.

Thank you again, Vicky