Gastroenteritis in France? Here’s the One Food You Can Eat
I believe everyone has experienced diarrhea or gastroenteritis at some point, but dealing with it while traveling feels as helpless as facing a typhoon. So, besides praying, what else can we do, or more importantly… eat? Let me share my unforgettable experience.
In 2019, I traveled to France on a working-holiday visa but soon encountered the global pandemic that turned everything upside down. I had to return home immediately. After two long years, I finally landed at CDG again.
With limited time in Paris, I crammed all my meetups into one day — morning, afternoon, and evening. My friends had different schedules; some were still studying, while others were working, so we didn’t have proper meals together. For lunch, I grabbed a Vietnamese pho takeout (which I love) and spent my time walking through the city or hanging out in parks.
Despite being prone to stomachaches, I rarely suffer from gastroenteritis. But as we know, it’s not always caused by bad food — it can come from stress or fatigue too. This time, I think it was due to over-excitement, overeating, and over-scheduling!
By the end of the day, after walking 16km with three different friends, I started feeling uneasy and lost my appetite. Early the next morning, I woke up with something in my throat and rushed to the bathroom. I vomited the entire bowl of pho from the previous day. On top of exhaustion, I now had a stomachache.
“Great! I just got here, and now I have gastroenteritis. What a fantastic start!” I groaned. My then-boyfriend (a French guy) went to the supermarket to get me something. He returned with a box of plain biscuits called “biscotte” — a dry, whole wheat cracker that looked incredibly boring. (No, you can’t eat baguettes with gastroenteritis — they’re too fatty and hard to digest!) However, this simple, unflavored biscotte was exactly what I needed.
If you’ve been to a French supermarket, you’d notice all the shelves packed with chocolate or fruit-flavored cookies, but it’s hard to find salty crackers like you would in Asia. As a fan of supermarkets, I hadn’t even noticed biscotte before.
My boyfriend told me that having biscotte for breakfast is “very French.” They usually spread jam or honey on top, much like how you might put peanut butter on toast. If you ever find yourself needing to eat this in France and want to make it less bland, a bit of honey helps. While I didn’t confirm how “French” this tradition is, I certainly wouldn’t want biscotte for breakfast during my stay in France! (Give me croissants and pain au chocolat please!)
Another common food for gastroenteritis relief is bananas, so my “meal” for the day was four pieces of biscotte and a small bite of banana. As much as I love experiencing local life, this was a bit too “local” for my liking.
Thankfully, after a day of resting on the sofa, I recovered 80% and could continue my trip. Thank you, gastroenteritis, for introducing me to this very local French biscuit!
