Imagine you are on a business trip to Paris, France. (Sorry – but living in Las Vegas, I feel the need to specify that I mean the actual city in France- not the Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip!)

Your client suggests you meet at the sensational, historic Louvre Museum for lunch. You think, “A business lunch at the Louvre? Well…THAT certainly doesn’t happen every day in California!” (or Ohio, NYC, Kentucky, or wherever you call home!) You start to dream of rich pate, steak with butter, des frittes! YUM!

The Louvre Museum

You dress accordingly for such a client lunch – your BEST business suit! You rendezvous with your client just outside the museum and enter the Carrousel du Louvre – the underground entrance to the museum. You walk together toward the newest restaurant at the Louvre. As you see the restaurant, you stop dead in your tracks. Disbelief washes over your face as you gaze upon the restaurant your animated client is so eager to share with you: a McDonald’s restaurant and McCafe. You hope you will wake up soon, but – alas – you are not dreaming.

In a city known for its haute cuisine and fine art, it is understandable that many French citizens are in an uproar over the opening of the 1,142nd McDonald’s to open in France. For the fast food chain, however, it’s quite a coup to be able to celebrate their 30th anniversary by opening next to the world’s most visited museum. So much for culture!

As the “Queen of the Business Lunch,” my clients often expected me to take them to the newest hot spots in town for our business lunches. I think if I lived in France, I’d have to let this opening pass. 🙂