French word of the day: Mcdo
#PARISFOMO and other stories from France
It has been absolutely lovely weather this week in Paris, (except for a bit of rain yesterday to ensure I don't have to water the garden.) On the less fun side, it is also the deadline for the 2024 income tax return but at least I can sip a rosé in the sun while battling through all the various cerfa forms.
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, May is the month of the ponts, aka the bridges that everyone takes several vacation days to turn public holidays into super long weekends.
So it isn't the month to come out with any big news. At least not on purpose.
A recent announcement that made headlines across France is that Mcdo is coming out with a new burger. (Mcdo is the French nickname for Mickey Dee's for the North Americans, aka Macca's for the Aussies, aka McDonalds for everyone else whose local country nickname I don't know.)
The new burger is called the "Big Arch" and is meant to be for those people who are still hungry after eating a "Big Mac". (Is it just me or has the Big Mac been shrinking? I'm a petite-sized person and even I find it rather small.)
Beyond the XXL size, it is actually the name of the new burger that drove headlines. (All PR is good PR?) It seems the McDo marketing department forgot that there are several French regional languages along with plain ole’ French.
And in Alsatian, a language with ties to German and French, "Big Arch" is read as "Big Arsch", basically meaning a ruder version of "big ass".
To be fair Mcdo did apologize, everyone had a good laugh, and I don't think they are changing the name. But it all got me to thinking how popular burgers have become in France that the simple announcement of a new burger makes headlines.
When McDo first set up shop in France in the 1970s, there were protests with accusations of being the exporter of "mal bouffe" or "bad food". (And you know how important food is in French culture.)
Their competitor Burger King (who doesn't have a hip nickname) came to France in the 90s but found it so tough going, they left.
At the time, the most popular sandwiches around were the traditional Croque Monsieur and the simple Jambon Beurre.
These day, their popularity has reversed. It is rather easy to find a place selling burgers on a takeout or eat-in menu around France, but you will have a tough time finding a croque monsieur or jambon beurre. The croque monsieur is more labor intensive, while the jambon beurre is rather plain.
And when I say burgers, I mean all sorts of burgers, not just the fast food kind. In fact recently two Michelin-starred chefs even put a "gastronomic" burger on their menu in their restaurant in Paris.
As for Burger King, they made a triumphant return to France in 2012, with long lines of customers eagerly waiting.
Next up: This past week Dunkin' Donuts has arrived in France, with a range of 18 new donuts. I guess we are still paying for that 2010 NY macaron craze.
In other news:
You will be excited to hear the French town of Landerneau in Brittany has broken the world record of assembling the largest number of people dressed as "smurfs". Yes, those blue pint-sized creatures known as "schtroumpfs" in French. (The cartoon itself originated in Belgium.) This was the 3rd attempt at breaking this record by the town of Landerneau. To ensure victory this time around, the mayor decided to ban bars from serving drinks at the time of the count, so that everyone participating was on site. You can watch a video of the festival here.
The who's who of stars has descended upon the French Riviera for the Cannes film festival, and sadly we're still waiting for our invitation. In a peculiar note, the dress code this year bans nudity. A far cry of the French 1960s trend of topless women on the beach.
After the large blackout in Spain a month ago, both Denmark and Belgium have dropped their nuclear phaseout plans this past week. And Germany will drop its opposition to to remove anti-nuclear bias in EU legislation. (For info, France produces and uses the highest % of nuclear power in the Europe.)
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