No Paris Exception

Reading Hello, My Name Is Vegan Freak by Bob Torres and Jenna Torres, I learned that Peter Singer, called the leader of the animal rights movement, speaks of "the Paris exception," saying that it's no big deal to go off a vegan diet in places that make it so hard.

The authors take him to task for this, citing Jon Stewart's observation that "If you don't stick to your values when they're tested, they're not values. They're hobbies."

I agree.

But I also know that it's quite possible to eat vegan in Paris because I did it as a continuation of my vegan pilgrimage along the French route of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

My friends Annie from France, Jutta from Germany, and I (from the United States of San Francisco) ate in Cafe Ginger, Veget'Halles, and Le Grenier de Notre Dame, places that are really either vegan or vegetarian with vegan options.  Annie and I also ate at La Palmeraie, on the Rue de la Gaitee, where they served vegetarian couscous, which I asked for without milk or any dairy products.

Here I am with my Vegan Pilgrim's Passport, which includes several places in Paris.

  Things are rapidly changes in Paris even though that city's chefs or organizers failed to come through for vegetarians at the COP21 in November 2015.

There's hope.