Fast food takes over in France

Items like the McBaguette have helped McDonald's and other fast-food chains gain popularity in France. (Wikico …

It appears that freedom fries have liberated the French from their historically good taste.

The French, who have long held high culinary standards, aren’t afraid to flaunt their commitment to quality. But even the world’s first foodies have their limits, if a new study is to be believed. That’s because new data says the French have surrendered to fast food, which has supplanted restaurants to become the nation’s top dining choice.

NPR reports that fast-food chains are now responsible for 54 percent of all restaurant sales in France. And the number of fast-food sales has increased by 14 percent just in the past year.

"In previous years, we could see fast food was gaining ground, but this is the first time it has overtaken restaurants where you are served at the table," Julien Janneau of food consultancy firm Gira Conseil, whose company provided the data, told the French newspaper Nouvel Observateur.

In addition, Gira Conseil found that the number of French cafes, where more sophisticated and slower-paced dining prevails, has dwindled from more than 200,000 in the 1940s to around 32,000 today.

Global fast-food leaders McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King have all found a strong footing in France. McDonald’s now has more than 1,200 restaurants in the country, and Burger King, which had shuttered all of its French outlets in 1997, made a triumphant return to the country in 2012.

For context, there are more than 34,000 McDonald’s stores worldwide, with about 14,000 of those found in the U.S. If you compare the number of people in the U.S. (about 300 million) and France (about 65 million), there are still about twice as many McDonald's per person in the U.S. as in France.

So, why has haute cuisine given way to the Big Mac?

Experts say it could be a combination of factors, including busier workdays and a desire by younger French citizens to break with their country’s more traditional dining standards. And some French food writers admit that the more polite customer service enforced by corporate food chains is sometimes a welcome alternative to a less predictable experience at independent restaurants or cafes.

In other words, "mangez bien" (eat well) may have given way to, "well, eat."

"The offer has not changed, but the consumer is different," Gira Conseil's Devanne Julien told the French paper.

Of course, as NPR notes, French McDonald’s often offer different menu items from you might find in American outlets, including the McBaguette and the McCamembert, along with healthier and locally produced options.

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Air France: Man found in cockpit not an employee

A 61-year-old French man was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff, police said Friday.

The crew of a US Airways flight bound for West Palm Beach, Fla., found Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France, in the jump seat behind the pilot on Wednesday evening, removing him after he was unable to produce valid credentials and became argumentative, police said.

Jernnard, who was a ticketed passenger, was wearing a white shirt with an Air France logo and had a black jacket with epaulets on the shoulders, police said. Officer Christine O'Brien said police found him in possession of a counterfeit Air France crew member ID card.

Air France said Jernnard is not one of its employees and was not wearing the airline's uniform.

It's not clear how Jernnard got into the cockpit, but one security expert said he didn't view it as a breach.

Pilots can typically ride for free in the jump seat of another airline, but they must make arrangements ahead of time and their presence would be noted on a passenger manifest. That manifest is reviewed by the pilot before takeoff — meaning that Jernnard didn't have a chance of remaining, said Douglas Laird, former security director for Northwest Airlines.

"The guy can't do any harm sitting up there. He has no access to the controls sitting there. I think the system worked," said Laird, who now runs an airline security consultancy in Reno, Nev.

Police said there's no indication Jernnard meant any harm. A US Airways spokeswoman referred questions to the FBI, which confirmed it is investigating but declined to comment Friday.

O'Brien said Jernnard initially became upset at the gate when he asked to be upgraded to business class.

"The (US Airways) employee gate agent told the male there was no space left in business class. He became irate," O'Brien said.

Jernnard then boarded the plane and made his way to the jump seat.

He was charged with criminal trespass, forgery, records tampering, false impersonation of a person privately employed, and providing false identification to law enforcement. He was jailed on $1 million bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 5. Federal charges are also expected.

Jernnard is represented by the Philadelphia public defender's office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In France, police in La Rochelle as well as the national police declined to comment, saying they are not allowed to disclose information about individuals.

Jernnard's stunt mirrored one by con man Frank Abagnale Jr., whose exploits were chronicled in the 2002 hit film "Catch Me If You Can." In the movie, Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is able to make his way into a plane's cockpit, bluffing his way past security and distracting the FBI by donning a pilot's uniform.

Laird said he can recall a few other cases before the Sept. 11 attacks in which civilians talked their way into the cockpit and were not discovered until the planes had actually taken off.

"If you are civilian, you can't pass yourself off as an Air France pilot because within about 30 seconds the pilots go, 'This guy has not a clue,'" Laird said. "It would be like you and I passing ourselves off as surgeons."

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Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania. Associated Press Writer Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.

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France to turn off Office lights and night store

Paris (Reuters)-French shops and office buildings will have to turn off the lights at night to save energy and reduce light pollution, the French Environment Ministry said Wednesday.

From 1 July, all non-residential buildings must turn off Interior lights an hour after the last workman leaving the premises. All exterior lighting shop window and will be off by 1.

Local authorities will be able to allow exceptions for Christmas lighting and other local events.

The new law will save about two terawatt hours of electricity per year-the equivalent of 750,000 households consumption, the Ministry said.

The Delphine Batho's Environment Minister said that France also would be a pioneer in Europe in preventing light pollution, that disrupts ecosystems and people's sleep.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Edited by Pravin Char)

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