La Belle France: charming bistros, glorious wines and cheeses, bountiful markets, streets filled with the smell of freshly baked bread - all emblems of the greatest food culture that the world has known. Sadly, though, that culture is now in eclipse. Twenty-five years ago, it took some effort to dine poorly in France; these days bad meals are depressingly common, and it can be tough to find even a decent baguette in some villages and towns.
And there is an even more shocking statistic: France is now the second most profitable market in the world for McDonald's. La Belle France has been conquered by Le Big Mac.
[Torygraph Alert]
I suspect you're all aware that McDonald's is only the tip of the iceberg in this sort of thing; in addition to a range of competing hamburger joints ranging from Burger King to Carl's Jr to Sonic to Red Robin, we also have standardized restaurants that sell Mexican food (poor imitation thereof) (Taco Bell, Taco Star), Chinese food (Panda Express), Australian food, pizza, fish, etc. But I'm not aware of a chain that sells French food.
Perhaps part of the whole French food thing that each restaurant must have its own character and unpredictable menu???
There are also mid-level and upper-level chains. But it's true part of the French food thing is each restaurant has to have some individual and regional character... Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
Wow, I wish they had that franchise here in the US. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
