Eating gluten free can be challenging, even more so when you’re travelling or studying abroad. Luckily, Aix-en-Provence is the perfect city for delicious homemade foods. 

Every day, Aix has food markets where shopkeepers sell fresh produce, meat, and more types of cheese than I could name. While I love all of the markets, the greatest gluten-free find in Aix is La Manufacture Bio, an entirely gluten-free bakery with breads, pastries, and more. My personal favorite is their almond croissants. The owner has celiac disease, so you can eat your pastry in peace knowing that there is no cross-contamination. 

Aix’s fresh food markets! Aix has daily food markets where you can find fruits, vegetables, meats, and of course, cheese!  

La Manufacture Bio is a 100% dedicated gluten-free bakery that offers pastries, fresh-baked bread, sandwiches, pizzas, and more.  

You can also find gluten-free crepes, or crepes sarrasin, at La Crepe Sautiere. These crepes are made from buckwheat flour and filled with toppings from ham and cheese to caramel butter—whatever you get is sure to be tasty. If you’re in France in February, make sure to stop by for a crepe to celebrate the coming of spring on La Chandeleur on February 2nd! 

You can also find gluten-free crepes, or crepe sarrasin, at La Crepe Sautiere. A must-have while you’re in France, especially on La Chandeleur! 

Finding dedicated gluten-free restaurants can be hard in France, but many restaurants are very accommodating if you communicate with them. At this restaurant in Cassis, I was able to find a dish that was naturally gluten-free: salmon tartare. 

While there are some places with a gluten-free menu, they are few and far between. However, most places will have something that is naturally gluten-free, and with some communication with your server, you can make sure that the kitchen takes a little extra care with your order so there is less risk of cross-contamination. This was the case for me at a restaurant in Cassis. While there were not many gluten-free options, I was able to talk with my server and find something “Paige-friendly,” as my friends like to say. That’s where I tried salmon tartare for the first time, which was surprisingly better than I thought it would be! 

Possibly the best steak I’ve ever had—my friends and I celebrated a birthday at a more upscale restaurant, Le Novo, in Aix. 

My Food and Culture class has already taught me so many recipes that are very easily made gluten-free! Here, we are making Crêpe Suzettes, a crepe cooked in orange juice and lit on fire to add more flavor. 

Similarly, I had the same experience at Le Novo, a more upscale restaurant in Aix. To celebrate a friend’s birthday, my friends and I ventured to Le Novo, where I had the most mouth-watering steak of my life. 

My Food and Culture class also involves food tastings, one of which was a tasting of eight different cheeses from different regions of France. 

If, however, you’re more interested in cooking, let me tell you about the recipes I’ve learned in my Food and Culture class. In this class, we have the chance to cook French recipes. One such recipe was for crepe Suzette. While not typically a gluten-free dish, my professor is very thoughtful and made sure to alter the recipes to be gluten-free. After cooking the crepes on a stovetop, we let the crepes simmer in orange juice and lit them on fire. 

This class also offers excursions to local shops for tastings. My favorite tasting was at a cheese factory, where we tried eight types of cheese from different regions of France. 

The friends I’ve made here are also very accommodating, which means when we bake a birthday cake, I get to eat it too! Here is a picture of the (very messy and very tasty) process of making our own lemon-flavored icing. 

And of course, my friends have made being in France easier by always accommodating my diet. We have started a new tradition of homemade cakes for our birthdays, and my wonderful friends made sure that I could join in. While I myself am not the world’s best baker, my roommate has a secret talent for baking the most delicious cakes. For my friend’s birthday, we baked a lemon-flavored cake with lemon icing, topped with a twisted lemon peel. 

And of course, if you’re ever looking for a late-night snack, make sure to stop at Amorino for hot chocolate and gelato. 

And lastly, if you’re ever craving a late-night snack and you don’t have a roommate with a secret talent for baking, make sure to stop by Amorino for some hot chocolate and gelato. You’ll find many different flavors of hot chocolate, including dairy-free options, and gelato. 

All in all, being gluten free in France is not as hard as I thought it would be, especially with the help of kind servers, thoughtful professors, and the best group of friends.