Gourmet Lunch at McDonalds

Who likes eating at McDonald's? Usually I'm the one to say, "No thanks. I'll pass!" I can't remember the last time I ate anything at McDonald's in the states. Well, it's a different story here in France. I actually crave their cheeseburgers and potato wedges once in a while when I am here. My friends and I were walking down the famous Champs Elysees street in Paris on Friday afternoon when, what do you know, there was a beautiful, two-story McDonald's restaurant calling my name! They even had a 1 Euro menu. That can't be beat. Going back to the potato wedges that I mentioned earlier, these really are so crispy and flavorful! Why order fries when you can get these?! They also had a bag of crispy apples and grapes for a Euro.

The place was packed. Something I have noticed here is how people rarely and I mean rarely touch their food with their hands. We were at a fancy restaurant on Thursday night and I watched a lady cut up her cheeseburger and fries with a knife and fork and delicately put them in her mouth without once touching them. Pretty impressive. McDonald's must conjure up all sorts of American feelings because I actually saw people eating à l'aimericain by touching their food with...gasp--their fingers!

We left McDonald's and walked further along Les Champs Elysees. It was all set up with French flags for Bastille Day, which would take place the following day, on July 14th. I had to take a picture by the famous Arc de Triomphe that Napoleon had built for his triumphal march (which never happened, by the way, but don't bring his loss up to the French). We are going to be hiking the stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe tomorrow morning. This area is simply mindboggling to me! 12 roads converge to the Arc de Triomphe. Around the arch are 8 lanes of traffic. Cars honk like crazy (which they actually do all over Paris--as if that helps!) and try to weave in an out of traffic to get where they want to go. I'm surprised there aren't more car accidents here.

One fun thing to do is to walk up and down the bridges that cross the Seine. A new fad from Italy has started where lovers come here, put a lock on the railing and then throw the key into the river. There are thousands of locks on this bridge that were not here when I was here back in 2009. It is pretty cute, but I feel bad for all the fish who now have their river filled with metal keys!

Yesterday morning, we met again in central Paris to celebrate France's National Holiday. They had a parade that lasted over an hour. These parades are not at all like the parades I know from home. There are no high school marching bands, beauty queens or cooly-decorated floats. Instead, you see every type of soldier, marine and army-related group possible marching in perfect lines. It is a very official occurrence. Several airplanes in all sorts of formations flew overhead and blew out bleu, blanc, and rouge smoke. Instead of bringing out lawn chairs, people carried ladders to help them see over the crowds. At night, I debated whether or not to go out and see the Fireworks show, put on right behind the Eiffel Tower. I finally gave in, thinking I might not have another chance. At 11:00pm sharp, "It's Rainin' Men" came on the loud speakers as the sky was filled with fireworks of every color. I couldn't believe that I didn't once hear La Marseillaise and most of the music was actually American. It was a fun half-hour show. What I didn't realize was that I was one of over a million people at the "spectacle" last night. The metros became jam-packed with the masses immediately following the event. Police surrounded us and had to stop several people from pushing the others down the stairs into the metro entrances. Eeeek! We were pushed from place-to-place and finally made it home at 2:15am!! It was definitely an unforgettable experience.