[Idyllchat] celiac in France

[Jerry Clancy]

Michael,

The phrase you want is this:

J'ai la maladie coeliaque et je ne peux pas manger le blé ou le gluten.

It means "I have celiac disease/sickness and I am 
unable to eat wheat or gluten. Phonetically, it would be pronounced this way:

With a soft "J", almost as if preceded with a 
"z", "Jhay la maladie coliac 'A'  juh ne peu pa 
mon-jhay le blay ou le gluten."  (The 'A' is how 
you would say the letter spelling the alphabet in English.

It's probably easier just to say the last part, 
'Je ne pe pas manger le blé ou le 
gluten."  ("Blé" also means corn in addition to wheat.)

You might follow up with the questions, 
"Comprendez-vous, Messieur (or Madame)?" This is 
pronounced "comprenday-voo" and means "Do you 
understand?"  I think getting confirmation is 
important to avoid reactions. "Oui" (We) or "Non" 
(it's not quite the English "no" but the terminating "n" is not pronounced).

(Generally, in almost all words in French that 
end in "er", "et" and "ez" pronounce this last 
syllable as the English letter "A".)

Gluten bread would be "pain de gluten", with 
"pain" almost said as "pan" (e.g., frying kind). 
The word "pas" means "not", so just stick it in front as an imperative:

"Pas pain de gluten." -- No gluten bread.

I hope this helps some. It does seem somehow 
cruel that you are unable to eat one of their 
great specialties but, then, I didn't want polio at 12, either. C'est la vie.

Jerry



At 01:50 PM 7/15/2007, mobrien1 at charter.net wrote:

>We will be in France (Alsace and Paris) this 
>October. I have celiac disease (cannot eat wheat 
>or gluten) and would appreciate any information 
>about how to manage healthfully my eating while 
>there. I would appreciate reading any pertinent 
>experiences or advice (or what to say in French).
>
>Thanks,
>Michael O'Brien