Anyway, this trip we are only in Paris for a couple of days before grabbing a car and driving to Chamonix so we don’t have a lot of time. That’s ok because we did an incredible amount on our last visit including stopping at my favorite street, Avenue des Champs Elysees. At one end you have the Arc de Triomphe and way down at the other end the Place de la Concorde with the fontaine, Hotel de Crillon and Église de la Madeleine (Madeleine Church).

In between is the wide tree lined cobblestone street of Champs Elysees filled with cafes and high end shops like Cartier, Omega, Lacoste, and Louis Vuitton, through to the car showrooms of Mercedes, Peugeot, and Renault Sport which boasts 2.5 million visitors a year.

During the year it also is the home of some important events to France like the Bastille Day celebrations and of course it is the scene of stage 21, the final stage of the Tour de France (one of my favorite events in July).

So what could I possible have to say that is wrong with this scene? McDonald’s Restaurant!

This famous street has everything including this horrible blemish of a fast food joint I could find anywhere (very unfortunately) in North America. This most unhealthy fast food giant is scarring this famous street and calling itself McCafe of all things.

Now, I’m not against the North American market entering into Europe at all. I don’t care if McDonald’s wants to set up shop in France or any other European country for that matter, but I do draw the line at specifics. The Champs Elysees is no place for a fast food joint like McDonald’s and the people at McDonald’s who are responsible for locating their franchises in Europe aught to be ashamed of themselves for choosing this avenue. They aren’t the only ones who should be ashamed, the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë should also be ashamed. The Champs Elysees has it’s own brand of culture from clothing to jewelery, to cafes and night life. It is a street visited by celebrities of all walks, a street with history and stature and to allow unhealthy North American fast food joints to line this street is shameful at best.

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