Sacre bleu!

Last year, a sandwich most of the world’s citizens associate with America was the most-consumed sandwich in France. Yes, hamburgers–or, as they call them in France, les burgers–topped the list of most-eaten sandwiches in the nation.

The iconic jambon buerre is now the second most-popular sandwich in France, falling from the no. 1 spot for the first time ever.

An annual gastronomy survey conducted by Gira Conseil consultants showed that in 2017, 1.46 billion hamburgers were sold in France, compared to 1.22 billion jambon beurre sandwiches.

And those totals include all burgers sold in the country, from fast-food joints like McDonalds (or McDos, as they call it in France) up through high-end restaurants that offer such gastronomical concoctions as kobe beef topped with thick slabs of foie gras.

Tata Burger restaurant in the Marais.

With a national population of about 69 million people plus about 86 million annual visitors, that equates to about 9.5 burgers per person throughout the year.

A decade ago, there were only about 105 million burgers sold and consumed in France.

Worst yet–or better, if you’re a fan of les burgers–is that four out of every five French restaurants now offers at least one burger on their menus, according to the survey. And that includes most Michelin-starred restaurants in a nation many consider to be the culinary capital of the world.

C’est dommage.