McDo's

Best Week(end) Ever Part Seven

I did it. I paid homage to my country. For the first and (I sincerely hope) only time, I visited the golden arches in France.



I’d been talking for some time about how I should visit a McDonald’s because everyone says it’s different in other countries. And it really was. For one thing, check out the interior. You can’t really appreciate it all in this picture, but the inside was all decked out in cherry wood. It was much chicer than any McDonald’s I have ever seen in the USA. It felt more like an upscale middle-class chain, if that makes any sense. I’m thinking Outback or Applebees.

Of course, Ronald McDonald was there, looking as creepy as ever (If you don't think Ronald is creepy, look at this). Another difference between this McDonald’s and the ones in the US was the speed! They were incredibly slow putting the orders together. And when I say slow I mean slow by our standards. It probably took five to ten minutes for our order to be ready, but you know, in the US it usually only takes about a minute, minute and a half, to be served. I’ve done well with adjusting to the pace here and I am much more patient than at home. But just being in a McDonald’s for more than two minutes made me really antsy and I wished they would move a little faster.

Here is my meal. I ordered the royale wit cheese as a shoutout to Tarantino and Pulp Fiction. I also got potatoes (wedges), and a coke. I don’t even drink coke, but in this case I felt it was go-big or go-home.

The verdict? Overall, I thought the food was pretty tasty. The potato wedges (you have the choice between these and regular french fries) were seasoned and tasted like the ones at KFC, which I was rather pleased about. The burger tasted more like a burger than is typical for an American McDonald’s, and the cheese was different. As for the coke, it pretty much tasted exactly like all fountain coke does.

I was actually pretty pleased with the food. It was much better than you would find in America. There are only two reasons I don’t think I will return. First, I found it kind of expensive. McDonald’s is usually much cheaper than other restaurants, but my meal cost as much as the other meals I have had here. There was certainly no “Euro Menu.” Second, and more importantly, I will not let myself be the American who goes to France and eats McDonald’s all the time. Because that would be ridiculous. Especially cause France is the land of chefs and all.

There are some similarities between US and French McDonald’s though. In my experience at least, the after-effects are the same. Nasty aftertaste, breath, and stomach feelings prove to be pretty standard. TMI? Deal with it.