Well, this may seem strange to others but every time I travel abroad, I always have this desire to try the fast food chains such as McDonalds and KFC. It’s always on my check list, it’s a must do for me!! People find it weird because normally people would rather go to local restaurants and places to eat, in order to immerse themselves in the culture, than eat at a fast food chain. However, I would rather go to McDonalds at least once when I’m traveling. I’ve done this when I’m in the States, China and Hong Kong. Each fast food chain is unique, tailored to its country. For example, KFC in Hong Kong has Portuguese tarts which aren’t available in Canada. Portuguese tarts don’t have anything related to chicken (obviously)! Hong Kong’s McDonalds have red bean pie, exactly the same as apple pie but with red bean instead. Thus, coming to France, I really wanted to go try McDonalds.

Menu + Order Area!

Their menu is the exactly opposite to the menu in Canada. They have 20 nuggets where you share with people, no coffee drinks such as McCafé or Iced Coffee and they have a brunch menu. They have approximately the same burger menu.

When I entered, the first thing I noticed were these small ATM-looking machines. It turns out that these machines allow you to order your food from it, preventing you from lining up to order. It has a similar concept to Drive-Thru. The machines here in France are individual and inside the store. Basically, you would pick the language of your choice and swipe your credit card in. Afterwards, you place your order and you receive a receipt. You would wait at the pick-up for online purchases and volia, you food is ready! I’ve never seen this in Vancouver or in Asia. It was super cool! Unfortunately, I didn’t want to pay with credit card so I made my purchase in person. I’ve noticed that the counters aren’t as spacious compared to Canada. I couldn’t even figure out where to line up! I just stood in front a cashier hoping I was lining up correctly. I made my order but there wasn’t any space to stand to pick up your order so I stood at the back of the line up. Thankfully, the McDonald employees remembered my order and handed it to me.

Cashier view or ordering area!

An up-close photo of the machine!

I ordered something small as I will be going out for lunch later. Thus, I ordered nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. When I got the sauce, it said “Classic Chinois” (meaning Chinese Classic in English).

Is sweet and sour a Chinese sauce? Anyhow, the sauce wasn’t like sweet and sour in Canada. It had a more settle taste, the taste wasn’t as pungent compared to Vancouver.

The walls in McDonalds were covered with environmental changes and deeds that McDonalds have done. One poster said that McDonald transforms their cooking oil to biodiesel and another saying that they transformed their garbage to energy. Walls were covered with words of being environmental. If you listen carefully, they were playing popular English songs from Imagine Dragons, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne and etc. I didn’t expect them to play western music since we are in France. I thought they would play French music. The atmosphere was extremely different compared to Canada.

Words on the glass

Words on the glass

As I am typing this, I looked around McDonalds and saw what people were eating. I’ve also noticed that people were having fried potato wedges. I’ve never seen that in Canada. Guess that will be the next thing I’ll try when I’m in McDonalds! I have yet to try KFC in France as I’ve heard that the chicken in France taste better!