The French arm of McDonald’s may no longer be the target of local farmers and gastronomes who attacked it in decades past. But next month, the chain will ask the French if they’d like frites with their Mona Lisa, as it prepares to open a branch at what could be called Ground Zero of French culture: the Louvre. As one art historian said, the move represents “the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odours in the context of a museum.”

France is now the largest McDonald’s market outside of the U.S., with over a thousand outlets throughout the country. But the chain’s plans to open a restaurant in an underground food court near one of the museum’s entrances has brought long-simmering concerns to the surface. As reported in the Daily Telegraph:

Didier Rykner, head of The Art Tribune website found the idea “shocking.” “I’m not against eating in a museum but McDonald’s is hardly the height of gastronomy,” he said, adding that it was a worrying mixture of art and consumerism. “Today McDonald’s, tomorrow low-cost clothes shops,” he said.

McDonald’s insists that the naysayers have it all wrong. According to the company, the location will include a “quality” McCafe that would be “in line with the museum’s image,” and the museum insists that the local franchisee has taken “the utmost care in ensuring the quality of the project, both in culinary and aesthetic terms.”

We have no idea how they’re going to pull that off, but if it involves Mona Lisa Happy Meals, we may just have to give Jose Bove a call and see if he’s still got his bulldozer.

McDonald’s restaurants to open at the Louvre [Telegraph]

(Photo: wbeem & Great Beyond)

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