Charles de Gaulle Airport
with Food Allergies

Eating at CDG before you get into Paris

CDG's terminals carry the usual international-airport mix: chain coffee and fast food, a scattering of brasserie-style sit-down counters, and grocery options in the public areas of every terminal, including Marks & Spencer Food and Monop'daily convenience stores. None of this is meaningfully different in allergy risk from what you'd find in central Paris.

The same hidden allergens that run through French cooking generally apply at the airport too. Butter and cream thicken sauces that don't read as dairy-heavy on a menu board. Almond paste (frangipane) shows up in croissants, galettes, and pastries sold at every terminal bakery counter, and shared trays and display cases make cross-contact likely even for items that don't contain almond themselves. Check specific dishes in the Allergy Risk Checker before you order anything you can't confirm with staff directly.

Marks & Spencer Food and Monop'daily are the most reliable fallback: packaged products carry the EU's mandatory 14-allergen labeling, so you can read the label yourself instead of relying on a conversation in a language you may not speak. If you're arriving on a long-haul flight and haven't eaten in hours, it's often worth waiting until you're settled somewhere in the city and can ask a kitchen a direct question, rather than making your first food decision in France at a terminal counter under time pressure.

Pharmacy access at CDG

Each terminal has its own pharmacy, all located before security in the public area: Terminal 1 on level 3, Terminal 2A-2C on level 1, Terminal 2E on level 2, and Terminal 2F on level 2. Hours run roughly 6 or 7am to 8 or 9pm depending on the exact location, and staff at any information desk can point you to the nearest one.

What they won't reliably have: a specific epinephrine auto-injector brand, or anything requiring a French prescription. France's pharmacy system gates most medications behind a prescription, so don't plan around buying emergency allergy medication on arrival. Carry what you need with you, and carry more than one auto-injector if that's your usual practice.

The nearest hospital if something goes wrong

CDG doesn't run its own on-site emergency clinic in the way some Asian hub airports do; for anything beyond what a terminal pharmacy can handle, the nearest full hospital is the right call.

For anaphylaxis or difficulty breathing: use your epinephrine auto-injector first, then call 15 for SAMU, the national medical emergency dispatch, or 112 from a mobile. SAMU can direct an ambulance to you at the terminal directly rather than requiring you to travel to the hospital yourself. Confirm your travel insurance covers anaphylaxis treatment before you land, not after.

Getting from CDG into Paris

The RER B train is the fastest and cheapest way into the city, running direct from both terminal stations (Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1 and Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2-TGV) to Gare du Nord in about 30 to 35 minutes, for roughly €11. Trains depart every 10 to 15 minutes from early morning until close to midnight, and from Gare du Nord you can transfer onward on the Métro to most central arrondissements.

A taxi to central Paris takes 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic and time of day, and costs considerably more than the RER B. It's usually only worth it late at night once RER B service has stopped, with heavy luggage, or when a group is splitting the fare.

Storing your luggage if you have a long layover

If you land with hours to spare before your onward flight, or you want to eat somewhere vetted in Paris without hauling bags through a food court, dropping your luggage at a storage point near the airport is the simplest way to buy yourself that time.

Build your French allergy card before you leave the terminal

Everything above is a backup plan. The thing that actually reduces risk at every meal after this one is a bilingual allergy card a kitchen can read without you needing to find the right French words for butter, flour, and almond. Build it now, while you're still connected to airport WiFi, rather than after your first Parisian order.