I recently went on a trip to southern France and noticed that the McDonald's restaurants there are miles ahead of the franchises I've seen in the US.

They take McCafé seriously over there. Most American and UK franchises I've been to incorporate the McCafé drinks menu into the regular food menu, but the McDonald's restaurants I saw in Marseille had an entirely separate area for the café, which looked more like a Starbucks than a fast-food restaurant.

View photos McCafe More

The menu is illustrated on colorful display boards behind the café-style counter, and pastries are displayed in a large glass case.

They have a pretty impressive spread for a McDonald's:

View photos McCafe 2 More

They even sell macarons!

View photos McCafe 1 More

And cookies are placed in pretty glass jars:

View photos McCafe 3 More

The smoothies advertised on the board behind the cookies are actually served in glasses, too, rather than the plastic cups you'd see in other McDonald's cafés.

I didn't try anything from the café because I had just filled up on lunch elsewhere, but I got a chance to try the regular food while I was waiting through a train delay in the Marseille station.

The ordering system is pretty sophisticated. Customers place their orders on touch screens that allow people to select different languages — which I found helpful because my high-school-level French is pretty rusty — and peruse the menu.

They have a blue-cheese burger featured, a step above most American offerings:

View photos McDonald's 2 More