A Day in Paris

Monday, August 01, 2005

McDonald's

According to the website, there are something like 73 McDonald's restaurants in Paris. Quelle honte!

I'm sad to report that my children have had lots of experience with McDo (pronounced Mack Dough) in France. It really hit home when we entered the city of Saumur on our Brittany road trip to have my son say "Oh yeah, I've been to this town before.... I've been to that McDonald's!"

During the two week trip we took the kids to McDo's a number of times while we were driving from one point to another. The Happy Meal toy this summer is a little radio that comes in 6 colors and each plays a different tune. My children collected four of the radios over the two weeks and my son in particular would walk around with each little radio hanging from a belt buckle with the music playing. All I could think of was.... he is a walking announcement that he has a terrible mother who takes him to McDo all the time. He was obviously oblivious to the matter, asking me "what does embarrass mean, Mommy?"

I think this is the most interesting McDonald's facade I've ever seen. It's located around Gare Saint Lazare in the 8th arrondissement. It looks like it belongs in Germany.

But here's the dirty little secret -- the French eat there too.

-- said Auntie M in Paris
9:00 PM

15 comments

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Comments:

Of course, they eat French Fries!

BTW, if you're interested, I got the baby mogul pics up!

# posted by mrsmogul : 2:45 PM

I remember my son liking to collect those toys. Watch out, they pile up! The thing w. McD toys are they always have a collection in which one may want all! of them. I agree - that is an interesting McD facade - I see they couldn't quite figure how to handle the signage artfully.

How about Quick - are there any very close to this one? Does the family like it? Terry in SF

# posted by Anonymous : 4:48 PM

I've been at this McD's! In 2003, when the temps hit +100 degrees in Paris in August, one of the few air-conditioned places that was open on a Sunday was McDonald's. The cooler air and the ice cream are something for all tourists to bear in mind, now that August is here! YOu may be as surprised to find yourself there as I was!

# posted by Ingredient Sleuth : 6:55 PM

Oh yea, I have to admit that on our France trip we did hit a McD's. But there is an excuse - as we drove around the country we kept missing the hour during lunch whent the little town restaurants would take orders, so with things closed we were forced to do burgers - well, poor excuse better than none?

# posted by JoeinVegas : 9:18 PM

My dad would get SO mad at me when I told him how often I ate at MacDo when I lived in Toulouse but it was seriously the only place you could get food to go from! And I really liked the choco-croques... I thought the funniest though was when the Americans would eat at the McDonalds in France and get all shocked that the food WASN'T the same- smaller portions, no free ketchup or refills- quel horreur!

# posted by Amaranta : 4:15 AM

That's how it was in Rome also. I was shocked to find the one place where I found highest concentration of Italians was at a Burger King... There are so many ristoranti throughout Rome, that the ones where the Italians themselves do go you rarely see because they're less visible. But the night I caved in and went into a Burger King, and on previous occasions when I dropped into a McDonalds just to use the restroom, it was always full of Italians.

So as much as they say they don't, they really do eat there too. ;-)

I don't know if that's necessarily good though!

As long as your particular McDo isn't one that's caught the ire of José Bové! ;)

# posted by Joe : 4:55 AM

What a cool building! Very weird look for Paris though.

I think it really shouldn't come as much of a shock that the French eat there. They do love fries, and where else in Paris can one get decent fries and a Coke for less than 7 or 8 euros? Plus, many of them have free WiFi access.

I like to call them American embassies. :)

# posted by ddj : 6:05 PM

I stayed in Gare Saint Lazare in 1992...As I recall, the first floor of the new McDo was at one time - a bar. A friend confirmed it. We remembered it as kitschy and vaguely Medieval. Noticed it had changed while visting in June. A bit of a shame, I thought. McDo rolls on.

# posted by Sidney : 6:48 AM

When McDo's came to La Rochelle (and we've got three now),it was considered wery chic!!

# posted by Anji : 4:06 PM

There's a chinese Mc donalds in the 13th arrondissement too, it looks as odd as this one.

# posted by albinoal : 11:07 PM

I guess if you want to eat the way the French eat, it's fine to sample the fare at a McDonald's. My husband and I found the food much less greasy at the McDonald's we ate at in Cahors than in the U.S.

BTW, there are at least two Mcd's in the 13th in Paris . . .

# posted by Anonymous : 4:58 AM

Ah, yes, I've noticed this one. I thought it was a shame that they used such a nice building - that will now spend the next 200 years smelling like animal fats I suppose...

# posted by Nyx : 12:31 AM

vive José !

# posted by Anonymous : 10:05 AM

I know why the building looks German. That area is Alsacian. I think there is a square or a street called place or rue de Strasbourg. There are a lot of Alsacian restaurants in the area. (Their specialty is choucroute (sauercraut.)) The stork on the roof is the symbol of Alsace, and the architecture is typically Alsacian. (I lived in Strasbourg for a while.)

# posted by Christine : 5:32 AM

A

# posted by equiity : 7:39 AM