A Big Mac at the Louvre

The reality is that the French have gotten used to their McDonalds,widely nicknamed McDo pronounced mac-DOUGH. Statistics suggest,in fact,that they have grown fond of it. Since McDonalds France served its first Big Mac 30 years ago,it has opened 1,140 restaurants across the country.

The French operation of McDonalds is the second most profitable after the one in the United States. French patrons are also the worlds biggest spenders: an average visit here amounts to about 15,including tax,versus 4 in the United States.

With the recession having driven customers away from more expensive restaurants,the company is estimating growth of 10 per cent in France this year. Quick,a Belgian fast food chain with 346 restaurants in France,expects to grow by 3 per cent in 2009,according to its chief executive,Jean-Paul Brayer.

This trend marks a big change from the past decade. When José Bové,a French farmer and activist,decided to protest global capitalism and what he called Coca-Colonisation in 1999,he dismantled a McDonalds in the south of France.

Some Parisians have never even heard of the companys plan to open a restaurant in the Louvre,the basement of which already has a shopping mall and a small food court.

This is news to me, said Laurent Mortin,28,a bank employee who was in line to order lunch at a McDonalds near the Opéra Garnier. But if they open a McDo in the Louvre,whats the big deal?

Part of McDonalds success in France can be explained by the companys efforts to adapt to local taste buds. The French eat McDonalds in a French way, said Caroline Deleuze,a spokeswoman for McDonalds France. They come less often but spend more because they want a proper meal. That is defined as a sit-down experience with two courses.

Local menus offer sandwiches that aim to please local tastes. Le Royal Deluxe features a whole-grain mustard sauce on top of the standard beef patty,cheddar and vegetables,and it is now the second-largest selling burger in France,after the Big Mac. Le Big Tasty,a seasonal offering with a sauce that imitates the charred flavor of meat grilled on a barbecue,promises le goût de lAmérique, or the taste of America.

McDonalds France offers its version of the Caprese salad,called Little Mozza,and beer and espresso are also available. The company emphasises the French origin of the beef and vegetables in its restaurants.

Prices are also higher than in the US. Items are more expensive,in part,because of the current exchange ratea Big Mac in Paris costs 4.95,tax included,compared with 4.12 in New York.

Bernard Hasquenoph,the head of Louvre pour tous,or Louvre for everyone,an association for the defence of French museums,is one of the most vocal opponents of the McDonalds restaurant in the Louvre. He said he contested a symbol,not a particular country or company.

Im not going to chain myself to a McDo, he said. The Louvre claims it has nothing to do with the mall,but the museum granted it as a concession. For me,it is a symbol of what French museums are turning into.

Some people here struggle to understand the paradox of McDonalds success in a country that prides itself on viewing food as a prime element of culture. Gastronomy is a discourse,it is about collective belief, said Alain Drouard,a historian who is president of the International Commission for Research into European Food History,a group of scholars that researches the history of food and nutrition in Europe. There is a gap between this discourse and what the French eat, he said.

Drouard is untroubled by the McDonalds in the Louvre. Were in a process of industrialisation, he said. The French have become eaters of convenience food. McDonalds popularity,he said,is the result of declining standards in what the French consider traditional fast food. Bistros dont know how to make a good sandwich anymore, he said. McDo is a legitimate competitor.