Le MacDo: How French McDonald’s Compares to the Original American Chain

By Madelynn Loring, Staff Photographer

Picture this. You’re an American abroad in Europe. After eating plate after plate of delicious, wholesome food, you’re missing that all-American artificial dining experience. And then you see it, those gorgeous golden arches: McDonald’s.

This isn’t actually how I ended up at French McDonald’s (or MacDo). The real story is that I didn't realize that literally everything would be closed on Armistice (Veteran’s) Day and good old McDonald’s was my only option if I wanted to eat dinner. However, I had been wondering how the French version of this American classic fast food joint would compare and I’d finally gotten my opportunity.

Photo by Madelynn Loring

The first thing I noticed was that the ambiance of MacDo is much different in France than in America. The restaurants are kept cleaner, the staff is dressed more formally, and there is often a second story for additional seating space. France is also generally more environmentally conscious than the U.S., and French McDonald’s is no exception. If you dine in, you are not given a lid or a straw for your drink unless you specifically request it. Then, once you drop off your tray, there are 4 separate bins to dispose of different kinds of waste (from left to right: liquid/ice cubes, food waste/paper napkins, non-recyclable trash, tray covers). You are expected to clear your own tray like in the U.S., but you will receive some dirty looks if you neglect to sort your trash.

Photo by Madelynn Loring

The food is also a different story in France. Their menu seems to have all of the US classics, including the Big Mac, McChicken, Fillet-O-Fish, and McNuggets, but there are also plenty of French additions, including various salads, wraps, and the McBaguette, a baguette sandwich with cheese, lettuce, hamburger patties, and various sauces. I found the quality of this sandwich to be superior to the sandwich options in the U.S. The patty was similar, but the lettuce appeared more fresh, and the bread is actually baked on site. The quality of the fries was similar to that in the U.S., but that's nothing to complain about in my opinion. 

Photo by Madelynn Loring

The other large difference I noticed in the food was the offerings of the McCafe. The French McCafe offers a large array of viennoiserie (the pasty class to which the croissant belongs) that are not available in the U.S. They also do not tend to offer savory breakfast items, as breakfast in France is almost exclusively sweet. They do, however, offer several types of donuts, which are not available in the U.S. chain, but are stereotypically an American food. My best guess as to why MacDo might offer donuts is because it is viewed as the prime location to get American food. As far as the quality of the MacDo donuts goes, I have definitely eaten worse donuts, but I have also had better, especially in France where all baked goods tend to have remarkable quality. 

Photo by Madelynn Loring

The only way that MacDo falls short of American McDonald’s is the price. For my meal I paid €13.45 (around $13.80 with the current exchange rate). For the French equivalent of a Big Mac meal (burger, medium fry, and drink), you’d find yourself paying €12 ($12.45), instead of the typical $8 price in Colorado. However, given the increased quality of the food, and the fact that MacDo employees are paid a living wage unlike McDonald’s workers in the U.S., I’m not complaining about the bill. 

Though I’m not dying to head back to MacDo, as there are generally better options available for the same price (when it’s not a public holiday), I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and would not count it as a loss if I ended up there again.

Scammed by the Bell

By Sandra Vo, Staff Writer

Year after year, the American Revolution dazzles young elementary schoolers with stories of heroic battles and paintings of the Founding Fathers’ voluptuous wigs. However, no unit is complete without a segment about the famed Liberty Bell, the symbol of resounding freedom and everlasting justice.

Except…it’s not. 

What the Liberty Bell really represents is an agglomeration of poor engineering, shoddy attempts at repairs, and a hardworking public relations team that has manipulated the narrative for over two hundred years. 

Its functional failures started at the beginning of its inception in 1751. The Pennsylvania Assembly commissioned a bell for the Pennsylvania State House, but the bell cracked upon its first test ring, causing it to be melted down and reformed into a new one. While theoretically more functional than its predecessor, the overwhelming criticism surrounding the sound of the new bell forced it to be recast again. 

With the sound fixed, the new leaders of the Liberty Bell Public Relations Team (unknowingly or not), gathered a multitude of fictionalized stories about the important role the Liberty Bell played during the American Revolution. The most famous story is that the bell rang to signal the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, although this was a fictionalized tale written by George Lippard. In 1846, the bell attempted to leave another mark on history by ringing on George Washington’s birthday, only to promptly crack irreparably forever. An attempt to repair the bill using a technique called “stop drilling” ended up creating a new, larger crack that further marred an already damaged surface. 

Yet even so, the bell served as a symbol for both the Abolitionists and Women’s Suffrage movement. What better way to imprint something into the American consciousness than making it a mascot? For the Liberty Bell enthusiasts, this was certainly a win. Their poorly-engineered, faulty, non-functional shoddy excuse of a bell had ingrained itself into American history textbooks everywhere. 

Now, the bell resides in the National Historical Park of Pennsylvania, smugly basking in the attention it receives from gullible tourists and visitors, who fail to realize what it truly is: a hunk of scrap metal.