France as a vegetarian

[WomanStanleyWoman2]

I know there’s a holiday topic, but the traffic is pretty much nonexistent, so I hope I’m okay to post here.

I’m vegetarian, as is my closest friend. We’re looking at short breaks this summer, and France looks like a good bet. However, when I went as a child it was HELL as a vegetarian. I don’t want to go through that again.

I was looking at destinations with cheap flights and was surprised to find vegetarian/vegan restaurants in some fairly small cities. Obviously this is a plus point - but it got me wondering, am I generally dismissing France as being non veggie friendly on the basis of school trips many years ago? Has it got a lot better?

Looking forward to hearing from vegetarians who’ve enjoyed French holidays and who have eaten well whilst there!

I really struggled as a vegetarian when I went to France. I was also pregnant and wasn't confident enough in my French to ensure the goats cheese (which seemed to be the only veggie option in most places) was pasteurised so I pretty much lived on. Margarita pizza!

There are no well known vegetarian dishes in France! 😅

Well it clearly isn’t ridiculous, as several posters on the thread have had similar problems. You just wanted to have a dig and are now pissed off that I called you up on it.

That’s right - I swore again. People who get po-faced about swearing are beyond tedious.

OP, if you do go to France I really can't recommend enough that you buy fruit and vegetables at the market or a greengrocers shop.

In the summer you'll be able to get delicious tomatoes and peaches and apricots which taste absolutely nothing like what you can buy in supermarkets in the UK.

I was standing in a queue behind two teenagers the other day and I overheard one of them saying to the other, "I can't wait for mirabelle season." I can't imagine a British teenager saying that.

@WomanStanleyWoman2

You can swear and rant as much as you want you will still come across as silly.

You will find meal options for people who are vegetarian in countries like France, Italy, Spain, Germany and so on.

It is a bizarre view of the world to think that only in the UK can you you find a salad, veggie burger, vegetable soup or a plate of rice/pasta and vegs.

I am vegetarian and have never had a single issue in finding veggie alternatives while travelling through Europe.

In some places menus might not offer a lot of variety but that is fine by me.

The ''OMG, I am going to France, that far away country where they don't know how to cook vegetables/rice/pasta or serve me a fruit salad, how will I possibly cope...'' is just daft.

I don't think it is fair to dismiss the experiences of posters who have holidays in less touristy parts of France @Greenfairydust. Clearly, eating a beautifully cooked vegetarian French meal in a restaurant is a problem in some areas of France.

And most French cheeses (particularly all the AOC ones) are not vegetarian as they contain rennet. Also, many wines are not vegetarian.

Being vegetarian isn't only about not eating fish or meat.

I'm not vegetarian BTW, but family members are.

The vegetable soup is likely to be made with chicken stock, the vegetables cooked in pork fat, the cheese in the cheese sandwich made with animal rennet, the salad comes with lardons (and often the chef won't deviate from the recipe) ... and I have never once seen a veggie burger in France (I'm sure they exist somewhere, but you certainly can't just wander ino a random rural cafe and find one.)

You’ve made up all this nonsense, you’ve pursed your lips and clutched your pearls at an adult swearing, and you think I’m the one who looks silly? Oh love - buy a bloody mirror.

Literally everyone apart from you appears to have got this, but for the avoidance of doubt:

• I do not think France is some “far away” backwater stuck in the 19th Century.
• I do not think France is a barren wasteland where nary a vegetable grows and they’d all collectively collapse in shock at the sight of a carrot.
• I do not think no one is France is capable of preparing a meatless meal.
• I do not think the UK is the only place where you can buy vegetarian food.
• I do not think Spain, Italy or Germany are similarly ignorant of the existence of vegetables. I didn’t even mention those countries, so why you dragged them into it, I’ve no idea.

What I did say was that I’ve previously had trouble finding suitable restaurants in France, BUT that was many years back, so I wanted the views and experiences of people who’ve been more recently. Everyone but you has managed to provide this on a snark-free basis.

My favourite way to plan meals on holiday is to look on the Michelin guide.
https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/ile-de-france/paris/restaurants/vegetarian_menu/affordable/mid-range
That should link you to filters for low or moderate prices, and vegetarian options.

It looks like there aren't loads and loads, but enough to be going on with.

If you remove all the filters, the Michelin guide shows 2,961 restaurants for the whole of France - with 449 if you add only the vegetarian filter. For Paris the respective numbers are 490 and 57.

So much for the contention that you can walk into "any restaurant or cafe" in France and get a suitable meal. More like 15%.

Admittedly that filter is 'vegetarian menu' rather than vegetarian dish' so may miss some that have only 1 or 2 options. But that's still 85% where you can't be confident of a meal without further research.

For comparison, for both London and the UK the same search yields around 30% with a vegetarian menu.

As others have said.
Cheese- many are non vegetarian
Wine- also

Plus- when choosing off a menu, a dish that is described as a carbohydrate + vegetables etc could very easily come with a bit of meat in. They don't see a problem with that if it's not specifically marked as vegetarian, so to be on the safe side check.

I live in a different continental foodie country. I would say, accept that your trip won't be as easy or memorable regarding food in the same way were you an omnivore. But that doesn't matter, you can still find food and have a great time.

So much for the contention that you can walk into "any restaurant or cafe" in France and get a suitable meal. More like 15%.

people actually living in France have been posting that yes restaurants have vegetarian options. No it might not be a vegetarian menu but I just checked 5 restraurants in my area, all very rural, all have vegetarian dishes for both starters and mains. You really won't starve.

I had a really lovely veggie burger last week as it happens, in a well known local bistro by the banks of the river Vienne. Probably the best veggie burger I've ever had.

No it might not be a vegetarian menu but I just checked 5 restraurants in my area, all very rural, all have vegetarian dishes for both starters and mains. You really won't starve.

It sounds like it is very area dependent though, given the repsonses from posters on here who have been to France recently.

Oat milk is everywhere, even in the smallest of supermarkets. However, you may have been looking with the fresh milk, it's not there, it's in the organic section or with the regular milk, all UHT.

I live in France and travel around France quite a bit. You will always find something vegetarian in the pizza/pasta/crepe places, not so much in the traditional French restaurants. In the big cities you will find vegetarian restaurants, in the smaller places it is the pizza/pasta/crepe options often and not a lot elsee. I would say though that if you can ask, there are often vegetarian things that might not be flagged up as such, it's just not a selling point for a restaurant in the same way, so it might not be immediately obvious.
It's not area dependent I wouldn't say.