
 
 [Photo: Le Figaro] 
 
 The latest effort by McDonald's to adapt to the local culture: adding the iconic baguette to its menus in France. An article in French newspaper Le Figaro says that McCafe locations in the country will add freshly-baked baguettes with butter and jam to the menu. The jam will of course come in apricot, raspberry, and orange varieties and will be made "artisanally by a producer in the Pyrenees." Baguette sandwiches are due in the first half of 2012. 
 
 Introducing a large-scale fast food version of a signature French artisanal foodstuff supposedly makes economic sense. According to Reuters, which picked up the story, "French people eat nine sandwiches for every single burger they tuck into." 
 
 The Le Figaro article, by the way, begins with the rhyming phrase "Cocorico chez McDo." As some wiseass noted on Twitter, this translates to "Cock-a-doodle-do at McDonald's." Some things just sound better in French. 
 
 · La Baguette Fait Son Entrée Chez McDonald's [Le Figaro] 
 
 · McDonald's Bets on Baguette to Lure French [Reuters] 
 
 · All McDonald's Coverage on Eater [-E-] ||||| While Happy Meals are getting ever-so-slightly healthier with the token addition of apple slices and milk, over in France, McDonald's restaurants are operating on another culinary plane entirely. 
 
 Feast your eyes on the McBaguette, the newest addition to the menu, which comes served with apricot, raspberry, and orange marmalade preserves — fashioned "artisanally by a producer in the Pyrenees" — as well as with a pretty coquette who giggles seductively as she pats the crumb remnants from the corners of your mouth with a napkin. If the new menu item is a hit overseas, look for American franchises to adopt their own version, which will serve the miniature loaves of crusty bread between two syrup-soaked McPancabiscuits™, along with a quarter-pound sausage patty and eight generous slices of American cheese. [Eater]
– Oh, well, isn't McDonald's just getting très chic? We knew about the fast-food resturant's precious demi-tasse cups of coffee, and now it's about to serve ... baguettes to the French. Still sticking sort of true to its roots, though, Mickey D's is calling the haute culinary offering the McBaguette, which comes with apricot, raspberry, and orange marmalade preserves, fashioned "artisanally by a producer in the Pyrenees." It's smart marketing because for every single burger the French scarf down, they gobble nine sandwiches, Eater points out. "The French are passionate about bread and crazy about baguettes," a McDonald's exec in Europe tells Reuters. "For the first 15 years, from 1980, what we did above all was offer people a slice of America." Who knows, if the French go all oo la la for it, the McBaguette might make its way across the pond—but would then likely be served with a "quarter-pound sausage patty and eight generous slices of American cheese," sniggers Gawker.