Le Big Mac Hits The Louvre
You might think those men have absolutely nothing in common. Wrong. Starting next month, they'll all be able to call the Louvre home.
Paris' premiere museum, housing classic works like da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," will be installing a McDonald's restaurant and a McCafe – much to the chagrin of museum employees who see the fast food chain's presence as an unbearable example of commercialism trumping culture, reports the Daily Telegraph.
"This is the last straw," an anonymous art historian at the museum told the paper. "This is the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odours in the context of a museum."
According to the report, the restaurants will be located along the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground approach to the museum. The Louvre has the right to protest any establishments it feels clashes with the museum's standards, but they didn't.
"The Louvre welcomes the fact that the entirety of visitors and customers, French or foreign, can enjoy such a rich and varied restaurant offer, whether in the museum area or gallery," the museum said in a statement.
The museum said the franchise owner "has taken the utmost care in ensuring the quality of the project, both in culinary and aesthetic terms."
Despite the misgivings of museum employees, the Louvre's McDonald's underscores the fast food chain's increasing presence in France, which is topped only by its presence in the U.S.