Art For Lunch

Next month, a McDonalds will open next to the Louvre’s underground entrance. This recent news has angered art-enthusiasts, collectors, and pretty much all of France, but apparently, placing fast-food restaurants and other chains next to famous sites is nothing new.

From The Guardian:

After 580 years and 24 emperors, Beijing’s Forbidden City got its first franchise in 2000 – a Starbucks. The shop’s sign was taken down in 2005 after complaints but it took half a million petition signatures (led by a popular TV news anchor who claimed it was “eroding Chinese culture”) before the franchise was removed in 2007. Still, this hasn’t kept Starbucks away from China’s Unesco Heritage Sites. In 2005, the Seattle-based coffee maker breached the Great Wall, setting up shop at the popular Badaling section.

Click here to take a look at some of the world’s most famos landmarks that are surrounded by some of the world’s most famous franchises.

(Image from the Brisbane Times)