Great cafés and food in Paris?

what vegan food should I bring on my trip to Paris?

  • I'm vegan and planning a trip to Paris. What staples, if any, should I bring to round out meals I'll be making in the vacation rental where I'll be staying? I'm vegan and am planning on being mostly vegan / as vegan as possible on a trip to Paris. I want everything I make for myself to be vegan, though. I'll be staying in a small vacation rental and will have access to a basic kitchen, fridge, etc. The apartment is near an organic grocery store, so I'll be able to get whatever they have at those. I'm not planning any elaborate cooking. I'm planning on eating a lot of baguette with jam and lots of veggies and green salads. But are there any vegan / vegetarian staples that might unexpectedly not be available? Or are weirdly overpriced there? That I also could reasonably bring in my luggage? For example, I might toss some peanut butter or a small jar of nutritional yeast into my bag, but wouldn't want to bring anything like, you know, Earth Balance or tofu.

  • Answer:

    Peanut butter will not be available as you know it, and it will be expensive. So yes, definitely that. If you tend to cook with nutritional yeast then yes bring it, though I don't know how useful it would be for more on-the-go meals. I don't remember seeing anything resembling Earth Balance though possibly a specialized grocery store might know how to find it. Similarly if you snack on Luna Bars or Clif Bars, you might want to bring those in too. Is there anything in particular you're worried about not finding? Oil; fresh vegetables; dried pasta; jam-- not a problem.

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The French don't really understand "vegetarian" and I know that my vegan friend strugges a bit dining out here in Paris. BUT http://naturalia.fr/ (a chain of organic stores throughout France, there's a good online shop so you can see what they sell) do sell peanut butter, and tofu and seitan etc. I don't know about nutritional yeast, sorry. Or the http://www.epicerie-anglaise.com/ sells peanut butter (€3-6 a jar). http://www.lepotagerdumarais.com/ is a nice vegetarian resto with vegan options. http://www.happycow.net/reviews.php?id=9932 also cater to vegans. Neither are especially French, sorry. :( But they are very good. :)

jujulalia

Hey, I live in Paris! - Fruits and vegetable stores everywhere! - Naturalia has all more vegan stuff than you can shake a stick at - Peanut butter is expensive, but so is everything else. - Supermarket hummus is SUPER EASY TO FIND but there isn't much variety for flavors. You can get "spicy" (it's not) and "pine nut" (has pine nuts on top) and "original". The containers are the same as in the states (round, clear plastic, about 3 inches tall and 5 or 6 in diameter), and it is in a refrigerated section with roasted eggplants, tzatziki, and the pink spread made of fish eggs (tarama?). In other words, like others said, you'll be fine. Maybe throw in a few ziplocs full of spices, just so you don't have to buy them here.

whatzit

You might find http://forum.theppk.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=498 over at the PPK message boards helpful.

something something

In case you haven't already found this: http://veganparis.com/.

Mr.Know-it-some

There are also loads of lovely nuts and fruit mixes around! Maybe take a couple of plastic knives and some of those little tubs of peanut butter, so that if you need a snack and are out and about you can just grab some crackers or fruit? I don't think soy milk will be a huge problem either, and there really are fantastic falafel places. Even the quick grocery stores have little pots of salads and things, many of which are vegan, like carrot and raisins, and bean salads. And I do believe really good dark chocolate (and the sorbets mentioned in the excellent link above to the PPK thread) will sort you out for any sweet cravings.

jetlagaddict

"if I just eat fruit, salad, baguette, and supplements for 2 weeks, will I faint from lack of protein" No, you'll be fine. Supermarket hummus might be a harder find, you could do your own, just for two weeks, mashed up chickpeas fine. Soy milk is also reasonably easy to find as well. Your biggest issue might be an on the go lunch, or wanting to sit down for lunch and salad is your only option. But really, it's just two weeks, you'll be fine.

raccoon409

Quinoa. Always quinoa. ProTip: Since regular whole quinoa isn't super portable for out-and-about/on-the-go lunches en francias, I suggest packing some http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001JJXDSC/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ with you from home, and eating them for breakfast (they cook just like oatmeal or cream of wheat, and you have access to kitchen in your rental) before you head out for the day. That way, regardless of what you can/can't find throughout your Parisian wanderings that day (and believe me, you don't want your glorious unstructured wandering time to be curtailed by searching for something you can eat), you know you've at least started yourself off with a protein-packed petit dejeuner and don't need to panic nutritionally for the rest of the day. Also, it's delicous. ;) Bon voyage!

Dorinda

Look up the days of the many year-round outdoor street markets, or indoor ones as well. There's a huge, well known "bio" (organic) market on Blvd. Raspail every Sunday. (Plug for the Sunday organ concerts not too, too far away at 11:00 at St. Sulpice.) Nearly all the street markets have Middle Eastern stalls with incredible selections of nuts, hummus, and fabulous olives. Try all kinds of breads, but not from supermarkets. Everybody thinks baguettes when they think of France, but bakeries like the Erik Kaiser chain have incredible breads with all kinds of flours, nuts, etc. Kaiser is in almost every neighborhood. At lunchtime look for bakeries that have a line of French people. That's where your good breads are. Bon appetit!

Elsie

Do you have any particular items? I'm fairly knowledgeable about Paris, but not knowledgeable about what you would consider for basic vegan cooking. Enjoy cooking for yourself with all the wonderful ingredients available there, but know that "vegan" doesn't translate.

raccoon409

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