Vegetarian food in France

[midnightmoon8]

We've just returned from a lovely holiday in France. It was perfect apart from one issue - I'm vegetarian and found finding vegetarian options in restaurants almost impossible. We travelled around and mainly stayed in b&b accommodation and ate out each evening but this involved traipsing round restaurant after restaurant until we found somewhere suitable. Think we'll go self-catering in future but wondered how other vegetarians overcome this? There must be French vegetarians - where do they eat??!

Also all the schools near me offer a daily vegetarian option. It’s very good quality too. Not useful for the op but interesting how things have changed here.

Same, and it's often organic. And we live in the sticks.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in France with a toddler with a severe fish and egg allergy and we have to manage his meat (and other protein) intake due to a protein deficiency.

Boy I’m glad he likes bread 😂 we’ve been 5 times and in the second trip just packed him a bag of food because it was just bloody hard work finding something he could eat.

We usually self cater. It's omelette or pizza otherwise.

I'm really suprised at this.

OK that last time I went to France they were still using francs so a couple of decades ago.

When we went as a family every menu seemed to have 'crudites' as a starter and often tomato salad.

Sometimes egg mayonnaise.

And there was always cheese.

I just assumed things would have got better for vegetarians.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in rural France and it hasn’t been that much of an issue (Dordogne though, so quite well be the reason!). Always been able to find veggie options for DD1. And my French is passable.

I'd try eastern Europe if I were you. Poland, the baltics, Czechia all have plentiful vegetarian restaurants even if the main offering is still a pork knuckle the size of your head.

I think France has a bit of a reputation for not being very vegetarian/vegan friendly.

We don't eat out much when we go as I am veggie and the kids are mainly veggie but definitely fussy. Self catering is much easier all round.

Spain is also a bit tricky but at least with tapas you can pick and choose and there are lots of potato based things!

I don't eat meat and have now been diagnosed coeliac too. I'd love to go back to France but eating there worries me.