Me and my boyfriend, Seb, are planning a trip to Paris in January; it has occurred to me that this trip will no longer be the carefree, eat-where-we-may affair that it was when we went last year.  Last year we found a lovely cafe which served fresh croissants and baguettes for breakfast: well, that’s out.  And lunch could be whatever we fancied, sandwiches, pizza, whatever, just something quick.  Now I’m going to have to be much more organised.  The more I thought about it, the more panicked I became.  But I have just done a quick internet search, “gluten-free cafes Paris” and loads of stuff came up! One page had a printable gluten-free dining card explaining, in French, what Coeliac disease is (so you can ensure the waiter understands what you can and can’t eat) along with listings of restaurants and bakeries which have gluten-free food.  The dining card may be a bit lame and embarrassing, but still, it’s reassuring to have such a thing with you, just in case. Yelp also has plenty of listings and Google has a map plotting all (or some of) the gluten-free cafes in Paris.  Brilliant.  Panic over!

And actually, now I think about it, although maybe this trip won’t be quite as relaxed as last year’s, we’ll probably eat really, really well because I’ll have had to research everywhere we eat, not just the restaurants we go to for dinner.  I have never been able to select a good place to have lunch without first researching it; I just don’t have the instinct.  And so inevitably I end up picking the worst possible place which, in turn, results in much disappointment and anger and the exchange of bitter, snippy comments as Seb and I contemplate our grim-looking meals.  But, if I’ve got all the restaurants and cafes planned out in advance (boring though this planning process will be, admittedly; although it may require the purchasing of new stationary, the thought of which fills me with untold joy), lunchtime will be a much smoother operation.  Perhaps the holiday will be greatly improved.

Good, I feel much better now.  Better start browsing Muji for coloured pens…