3 days, 3 countries—I’m lovin’ it

I had visions of being ridiculed by the Germans and snubbed by the French if my footwear revealed I was an ugly American, so I spent seven days—two of them walking more than eight hours to see the sights of Paris—in arch-less sandals.

All in vain, I might add, because the minute I opened my mouth to speak, there was no mistaking that my French delivered with a hint of a Southern accent was coming from an American.

McDonald’s had a similar dilemma when it went abroad—how to deal with being an American icon in Paris. And, while they didn’t leave their arches at home as I did, they did downplay them on signage in order to blend into a culture that both embraces and abhors all things American.

In the spirit of full disclosure, McDonald’s did not pay for the journalists who went on the whirlwind tour of three countries in three days, although they fed us well. And no, it wasn’t hamburgers and fries three times a day. We ate at world-class restaurants and snacked at McCafés. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I can’t vouch for the lattes with the hand-drawn design in the foam, but I can for the pastries. The petite pistachio meringues were well worth the calories. And our lunch at McDonald’s Germany headquarters included samples of 13 new menu items developed for European taste buds—everything from a salad nicoise (tuna and green beans on lettuce) to a Baci McFlurry, made with the Italian chocolate-hazelnut candy that’s a European favorite.

So put down your Big Mac and pick up your pencil-thin fries, and get ready to take note of the way the rest of the world sees our McDonald’s.

The agenda:

Monday, June 25:

Actually travel for me started at 3 p.m. on Sunday from Minneapolis with a layover in Amsterdam. I arrived in Munich at 8:55 a.m. and immediately did what every seasoned traveler tells you not to do: I went to bed.

18:00 (take 12 o’clock and subtract it to get U.S. time):

Welcome cocktail reception at Le Meridien hotel in Munich.

Tuesday—Munich

9:00: Strategic overview of McDonald’s Europe by several key people, including Denis Hennequin, president of McDonald’s Europe.

Noon: Taste test of McDonald’s new menu items.

14:00: McDonald’s restaurant tour, including the busiest McDonald’s in the world.

Dinner at Zum Alten Markt, a quaint, renowned restaurant known for its fresh food (one appetizer was a bunch of raw radishes).

Wednesday—London

5:30: Transfer to airport where we flew to London Heathrow.

9:15: Climb on bus that will take us to Oxford and the Food Animal Initiative Farm, where we’d learn about sustainable agriculture and supply chain strategy in Europe.

Noon: Lunch—a catered affair in a barn-like shelter with grilled lamb, chicken and sausages, plus a variety of salads. (I chose the sausage, which I immediately regretted when our tractor-drawn trailer stopped after lunch to visit the pigs—or future sausages of England, as I had come to think of them. By the way, a happy pig is one with a tail, which means his litter mates didn’t get bored or stressed and chew it off.)

16:30: Check into The Cumberland, an arty, hip hotel.

Dinner on our own.

Thursday—Paris

6:30: Bus to Waterloo Station where we caught the train to Paris. (A portion of the trip is through the Chunnel, under the sea, where the beautiful scenery is interrupted by a blackout. An interesting aside: When the train crossed over into France, the train attendant shifted from speaking English to speaking French.)

12:30: Arrive at Sofitel Le Parc Hotel for a “light lunch”—tiny plates of salmon tartare, chilled pea soup, veal in a rich sauce atop mashed potatoes...and miniature desserts, tiramisu, crème brulée and fresh berries in cream.

14:00: Presentations on employee recruitment and retention and marketing and design innovations.

16:30: Restaurant tour.

20:30: Closing dinner at Place Mohammed V, with a view of Notre Dame and the Parisian skyline.

Friday—Return home or stay on your own in Paris

Some observations:

• Europe is the second largest territory for McDonald’s. It has almost 6,400 restaurants, 4,100 of them franchises.

• Social responsibility and brand transparency were two themes repeated often in Europe. “We deliver good food fast, not fast food,” Denis Hennequin, president of McDonald’s Europe told us.

•Food that doesn’t meet McDonald’s lengthy specifications means a visit from a member of McDonald’s team to the farmer or producer of that particular item. The food chain’s multiple links are all identifiable and executives bragged that they can trace a chicken breast back to the coop.

• One franchisee in Munich provides housing for his employees. In addition, McDonald’s has an apprentice program, where students split their time equally between working in the restaurant and attending school. They are paid while they are trained, but they have no obligation to work at a McDonald’s after they graduate.

• The reimaged restaurants in Europe are not your kids’ McDonald’s. Gone are the identifying shiny red and yellow. Instead, the theme is “less is more.” Colors are subtle to showcase eye-catching graphics and arty design elements that pop with color. Outside signage is “less aggressive” than in the states.

• A London restaurant employed hostesses who worked the room, taking orders from seated customers, making sure everyone was happy and greeting customers as they came in the door.

Are Americans ready for a grown-up McDonald’s? I don’t have the answers. But, at least I’ll “always have Paris.”