McDonald's has caused a storm after revealing it is to open a restaurant at a French cultural monument the Louvre.

America's fast food temple is celebrating its 30th anniversary in France with a coup the opening of its 1,142nd Gallic outlet a few yards from the entrance to the world's most visited museum.

The fast food giant will open a branch in the Louvre within a month, sparking an outcry in some circles.

'The Mona Lisa will soon be able to dig into a Big Mac,' read a headline in Le Figaro.

"This is the last straw," said one of the museum's art historians, predicting "unpleasant odours".

The outlet would be the American representative in a "rich and varied" food court, said a spokesman for the Louvre.