Chatters

This conversation reminds me of German friends that come over to visit and drooled over Dunkin Donuts, Sbarros's Pizza and go back loaded with Kraft French's Mustard. This leads me to think is not about quality, but novelty and diversity. People who don't tried new things because of labels others assigned to them need to get their own life.

ninasdream

Funny thread! I just returned from Paris, and I can tell you the McD's certainly look different, not yellow and red, but neutral and earth tones with large framed "artworks" on the walls. I peeked in, but I did not partake. French bistros & restaurants do not appear that child-friendly. Indeed, I don't remember seeing any children except in museum facilities and a few cafes. I happened also to hear a report in McD's on NPR yesterday. It seems that it is mostly popular with students and young families with kids. I had to laugh when a maitre d' interviewed stated that as soon as the students get jobs and money, they will drop the fast food in favour of "real food". I have a soft spot for McD, becasue they popped up just as my family was making weekend treks from NYC to New England. My dad could zip in for burgers, fires and drinks. Believe me, the expensive and time-consuming alternatives especially with 2 small kids were not pretty. I am not a big fan of fast food, maybe once every few weeks in a jam. By the way, in France, they use all local produce.

cmt

I didn't know about the meal vouchers in France--interesting employee benefit. I did a quick Google search in English. It would be better to do the search in French, but I don't know the proper terms to use for a good search on this particular subject in French. There were lots of results. Here's just one, as an example:
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache...yees&hl=en (In this url, after the word cache, there should be a colon : and the lower case letter x but unfortunately when : and x are typed together, Fodors give us the face )

Is this a survey of who has eaten at McDonalds outside the US? I never have. When I need to use a bathroom in Italy I go to a "bar" that sells coffee, water, various drinks, sometimes sandwiches, small meals, granite or gelati, etc., and I buy at least water. Actually, except in Florence, I don't think I've seen many McDonalds in Italy, but I did see one in Ferrara nd in a train station somewhere, possibly Milan. (I haven't been to Rome in over 30 years, though, and I guess there are a lot of McDs there.) I haven't been to a McDonalds in the US in about five years, but I do go to them sometimes, in certain situations.

cmt

I forgot: I definitely saw one in Bologna.

rex

<<By the way, in France, they use all local produce.>>

Yes, they care so much about freshness in France, that the minute you order, they go slice a fresh burger off the cow chained up outside.

tim10x

Back in 1977 while stationed in Europe with the US Air Force, I went to Oktoberfest in Munich. While there we went to a McDonalds and had a beer with our Big Macs. Try doing that in this country. I've been to Paris a couple of times but have never been to McDonalds there. I wonder, can you get a nice red wine with your Quarter Pounder?

hanl

As someone who lives and works in France, I can explain the meal vouchers thing. French companies with more than 25 employees are required to provide a subsidised canteen for their staff or, failing this, lunch vouchers. Companies with under 25 employees must, I believe, either provide lunch vouchers or some kind of kitchen facilities (sink, microwave, fridge) where staff can make themselves a hot meal. If you get lunch vouchers you pay half the cost (deducted from your wages) and the employer pays the rest. If you have a staff canteen, you can usually get a 3 course meal for around 4 euros. The company I used to work for had a canteen but provided workers who didn't eat there with lunch vouchers (so if I didn't eat at the canteen 3 days out of the month, I'd get 3 lunch vouchers).

Lots of people use their lunch vouchers to pay for meals out at the weekend. They are only supposed to be used for buying ready-prepared takeaway or sit-down food, so in theory you can't use them to pay for your shopping at Monoprix. But many butchers, traiteurs and boulangeries do accept them in lieu of payment.

As for the obligatory 2 hour lunch break, that's nonsense. Different companies impose different rules and hours on their staff. Some companies let staff take 2 hour lunches, others impose a 1 hour lunch hour, still others don't care how long you take as long as you work 35 hours or more in the week. And some employers are happy for you to work flexitime - perhaps even taking 20 minutes for lunch but leaving earlier in the evening.

suse

After spending two weeks in the British Virgin Islands eating nothing but fish and red beans and rice, my kids crawled over each other then ran upon seeing a McDonald in Puerto Rico. I thought it was hysterical. I must admit, I enjoyed my big mac and fries, but not as much as my cheeseburger in paradise!

Suse

smueller

I have eaten at McDonalds from Asia to Europe and have always gotten exactly what I requested. Why is it, then, that the McDonalds located two miles from my house only gets my order right about half the time? Yet another mystery of modern life.

LaurenSKahn

I got a kick out of this thread. The French use McD's just like we use it here. There are lots of single parent or two working parent families. Do you think they cook a multicourse meal every night? Of course not.

I have seen some of my friends serve a traditional meal after working all day but in many cases the food is all prepared in a neighborhood shop and they reheat it. No one has time to serve gourment food every night in France, after all.

Insofar as snobbery is concerned, there is a lot more of it on travel message boards by so called "experts" from North America than there is in France. For the French, eating out at a high end place is maybe a once a year (or less) deal unless someone else is paying for it.

When I finally went to one of those places on my last trip, a French friend told me I was out of my mind because it was too expensive. That friend, a real gourmet if I have ever seen one, is a well heeled lawyer in his 70's (who still works!). Of course, he could go on for ages about the special places he knows that do not make it into the guide books.

By the way, someone else ended up paying for my meal in that high end place. If you do a search for "Pre Catalan", you will find the story. So, I still do not know what it costs!

Mathieu

HanL : Thanks for your informative post. Very interesting to know.

david_west

Why do the French eat burgers at McDonalds? Have you ever eaten one at Quick?

Also despite what you may think, the "cheese-burger eating surrender monkeys" are very fond of american things. They are by far the biggest visitors to Euro Disney, and love things like Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood etc.

And no one on earth can demolish a Marlboro like a french bird.

Grasshopper

I just want to know when Thursday became the new Friday?!!! Dang, I've been working an extra day every week.

tcreath

I've eaten at a McDonalds (or some other fast food establishment) at every country I've been too. Why not? The food is cheap and (in my opinion!) decent. I love trying and eating at different restaurants while in Europe but after a week and a half of Italian food I was craving a Big Mac and fries as a small taste of home!

lobo_mau

I must confess I eat at McDo's once a week when I'm in the good old home country and once a day when travelling. And I like it...
My other concession to the American way of live is my adiction to US film industry (pretty much shared by the whole family).

When I saw the title I thought this was about Bush and the Iraq (thank God it is about a peaceful subject)

1tiredmama

I admit to eating at McDonald's in Europe, mostly in France. If you are driving through the country, you can find them conveniently located near the highways, and they almost always have clean restrooms (important to the OCD in me). I had a nice salad with grapes and goat cheese.

GSteed

Hello Happy Eaters!

Eating is a requirement of living! Many of an individual's preferences were established in early childhood. No food preference will ever match or equal what mother put on the table. Sociologists will call this 'conditioning'. McDonald's is a business. It relies on customer choices to establish offerings! McDonald's is in the business of satisfying 'macro' tastes. Conversely, the local cafe is in the business of satisfying 'micro' tastes. Travellers rely on McDonald's as a quality restaurant. Competitors come and go. I travelled from Wisconsin to Florida for 20 years. The only reliable place to get breakfast was a McDonald's. We tried hotels and other places, they all were unsatisfactory! McDonald's consistently sells the best coffee in the world. Try a taste test. Their housekeeping/sanitation sets benchmarks for all others. When is the last time you saw extra table settings removed when not needed. McDonald's inspectors require a certain amount of waste to appear in their store ratings. Breads and such are not recirculated. Calories are calories: how much you choose to eat is your choice. If it didn't taste so good why is it so popular?
Predudiced? Yes!
A happy stockowner, GSteed

NYCFoodSnob

I think it's funny how many people misinterpret a &quot;food snob&quot; as someone who only eats <i>gourmet</i> or at <i>four-star</i> establishments. <b>WRONG!</b>

I think, at times, that can be a fair judgment but, for me, a &quot;food snob,&quot; much like any great chef or food critic, is someone who knows and loves really great tasting food, won't settle for second-rate imitations, and doesn't care who made it or what restaurant it hails from.

A smart <i>foodie</i> knows there's an abundance of great tasting cuisine out there that would never be considered gourmet or cost a bundle, and some of this wonderful flavor can be found coming out of a cubby-hole dive of a restaurant.

For the fodors record, any food critique that comes from me, NYCFoodSnob, is a critique based strictly on flavor and has little or anything to do with price-point or ambience or pedigree.

I think certain fast-food businesses get certain items just right and I wouldn't consider myself a true &quot;food snob&quot; if I didn't acknowledge that. McDonald's is famous for their French Fries and there's a reason for that. Sure, the quality and amount of salt varies from location to location but, when they get it right, their Fries are, oh, so good.

cigalechanta

I've never been in a Mcdo's or any fast food which surprises my French friends but I was raised eating fresh foods by parents born in Europe and so shop one place for fish, one for our cheese and so on..but I think people should eat whatever makes them happy. I don't eat burgers but I'll cook them for friends.
I've passed 100s of Mcdos in France and they look much more attractive than here, especially along the countryside where they have playgrounds for the children.

Mathieu

NYCFoodsnob, you've confused me.
I don't quite agree with your definition of a food snob; I think your definition of a snob as you penned it describes a smart and sensible foodie (why should someone settle for second rate imitations at top price ?) Rather, a food snob is one who discriminates on the basis of the pedigree of the products or its ingredients, and/or the person or place of preparation, irrespectve of the taste and value of the meal, or of the feelings of those sharing it.

A more appropriate description of a food snob, (complete with the requisite measure of condescention), may be found, oh...somewhere between yours and my posting.

Best regards,