There is no McDonalds in Aix. Nor is there a KFC, Pizza Hut, or any of the other food scourges of the world. Of course I am not counting the McDonalds on the motorway interchange, or the several small Dominos around the suburban streets. And there are a couple of home grown burger restaurants. But the good burghers (ha ha, inadvertent pun) of Aix would never allow such a déclasse outlet in the Centre Ville.
But they have allowed this.
For the past few weeks I have been watching the fit out of these new premises in Les Allées d’Aix, but I must have missed the opening because when I walked past today it was full of people.
Five Guys is a fast growing American ‘quality’ burger chain with 1,500 locations (now 1,501) world wide. It is a relatively classy fast food joint, and someone in Aix decided they should have one. So did I go in? You bet your life I did. Take a look around.
Red and white, clean, full of light – everything so American, and the fries pretty good actually. Plus little baskets that you could fill with free peanuts roasted in their shell. A large space with dozens of youthful staff, smiling, taking and filling orders, and cleaning and clearing the tables the moment you finished. In short, a formula we know very well, but new to Aix.
The place was packed with homesick American language students, excited French teenagers, and quite a few regular French grown-ups come to see what all the fuss was about. The girl in the queue behind me declared to her boyfriend that she was, “so excited, she could hardly breath”. I decided on a moyenne carton of fries, purely in the name of research. Not bad, but hardly worth the fuss.
The truth is that there are no end of better, cheaper, tastier and more nutritious food choices everywhere you look here. The bread and sandwiches are superb; the pre-made salads excellent; the soups, crepes, and waffles fantastic; the sushi fresh and imaginative; and the actual sit down food choices are endless. However, traditional French food, while often very good and always flavourful, is not always healthy and can be – dare I say this? – a little stodgy. I am not really surprised that an American style burger and fries should prove popular. In fact, this chain, using fresh and good quality fillings, is probably marginally less calorific and healthier than the standard French sit-down lunch.
So there. Let the heavens rain down on me. French food is not the be all and end all of cuisine. And it is not always made with the love and care we are taught the French apply to food. However, the French do apply love and care to eating. That is the real reason there are so many great food choices here. But you still have to take care in making those choices. Indifferent, overpriced food is not hard to find. I wish Five Guys here, good luck – they are off to a great start.
As a parting thought, I should add that the French are fighting a losing battle when it comes to the influence of the English speaking world. I would be willing to bet that at least half of the 35,000 students in Aix are English or American. They stroll in groups around the streets oblivious to their surroundings, and block the aisles in the supermarket arguing over which sweet treats to buy. They are catered to by concept stores for Nike, American Vintage, Diesel, and dozens of other US brands. The young shop assistants in these stores all speak some English, which is often not the case in French and European brand stores.
The the biggest influence by far is entertainment. On tv the programmes that are not doco’s or Survival style voyeur fests, are overwhelmingly British or American. I have to say dubbing technology has come a long way. You would struggle to know that those familiar faces are not in fact acting in French. Movies are in the same boat. But the real conqueror is music. Popular music is just simply popular music from the UK, US, Australia, Canada and even NZ. Today I sat for 40 minutes having a pedicure, and heard not a word of French on the in-store music feed. My technician, who speaks no English, confessed to singing in English.
Ok, enough for now. Next time there will be more local atmosphere as the Christmas markets get going. And it looks like I am not only going to the Netherlands for Christmas, but paying a visit to Passchendaele on the way to follow up on what I wrote previously about my grandfather. So more of that story to come too.
A bientôt.