Mickey D's gone upscale

Moving to LA has made me appreciate a good burger. Burgers seem to be ubiquitous with the land of sunshine and automobiles.  LA is home to In-N-Out, Tommy's, Father's Office, Umami Burger, the Bucket, and Oinkster to name just a few of the low and high brow options that abound in our city.  McDonald's, the chain who really brought the burger to the rest of the world, has stiff competition in the City of Angels.

 McDonald's of yore courtesy of Flickr

That said, in France McDonald's must compete with other more refined cuisine and the French propensity to linger over a meal. "Fast" food is certainly a bit counter to what the French palate is all about.  Enter the new French McDonald's designed by Patrick Norguet and located in Villefranche-de-Lauragais.  The Atlantic recently published some images of the new concept and I have to say, it's pretty compelling. 

I'd give it a whirl.  Then again, if I found the same food that McDonald's is known for everywhere (and it is this consistency of product that made McDonald's what it is) I'd be pretty disappointed.  Maybe an upscaling of the menu is in order as well.  Deep frying their french fries in duck fat or olive oil perhaps?