to all things french, a raised glass!

[Hypnospin]

ah, this view of the norseman as raider, to the contrary, any true scandanavian will tell you how the vikings were ambassadors of trade, skilled crafts, and popularly representitive government, to hear them tell it...

btw, jacques anquetil was a norman. a tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, aqualine nosed, nordic facial featured cycling hero of france!

The Vikings raided the French coast until the French abandoned it, then the Vikings settled there. The Normans who invaded England in 1066 were third generation Norse Frenchmen.

 

[limerickman]

ah, this view of the norseman as raider, to the contrary, any true scandanavian will tell you how the vikings were ambassadors of trade, skilled crafts, and popularly representitive government, to hear them tell it...

btw, jacques anquetil was a norman. a tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, aqualine nosed, nordic facial featured cycling hero of france!

They may well have been ambassadors but they also conquered large areas of land including Ireland.
They were warriors primarily.

 

[limerickman]

Provenace - a lovely part of France.

Cote D'Azur : another great aspect of France.

 

[Wurm]

...and here is ANOTHER "lovely part" of France.

OUI!!

 

[limerickman]

...and here is ANOTHER "lovely part" of France.

OUI!!

ooohhhh la la !

 

[Hypnospin]

so hard to live in romantic delusion here without being checked into reality...

vikings rowed freshwater rivers to russia as well.

They may well have been ambassadors but they also conquered large areas of land including Ireland.
They were warriors primarily.

 

[limerickman]

so hard to live in romantic delusion here without being checked into reality...

vikings rowed freshwater rivers to russia as well.

In fairness to the Vikings, they integrated in to the local populations in the lands they conquered.
Our capital city in Ireland, Dublin, was founded by the Vikings.

 

[MountainPro]

ah, this view of the norseman as raider, to the contrary, any true scandanavian will tell you how the vikings were ambassadors of trade, skilled crafts, and popularly representitive government!

i dont think the monks of Lindisfarne, Iona or many other island communities would agree with you. The Vikings lead by the mighty Haakon fought a battle in my home town 750 years ago. They arrived in the biggest fleet ever to leave Norway. They were repelled by the locals. They had a very brutal side to thier nature. But they were also very cultured.

The Scotman, Somerled of Argyll, used to raid thier settlements on Scotlands western seaboard and put thier heads on spikes on the beaches so that passing longships would see that thier kinsmen had been slaughtered in battle. Pretty gruesome. This also kept them from trying to regain islands which the Vikings previously controlled.

read up on him, a fasinating warrior with a life just as eventful as Wallace or Bruce.

If it werent for Somerled and Alexander 3rd King of Scots, the Western Isles of Scotland would still be under Norwiegain control today

yeah, French stuff is great...Champagne, fine wines...

 

[Wurm]

I have a few Rethug's and Jehovah's Witnesses heads on spikes out in the front yard. Olde Somerled of Argyll was right: they don't come around here no more.

 

[Wurm]

On world stage, France's role is audience favorite

 

[Hypnospin]

once, i held in my hand a signed picasso woodcut. the guy had always wanted a picasso. he did not know for certain of it's authenticity but it had been purchased at auction.

france has rolling art as well, a citroen sm maserati powered wagon
"et tu chic"

or take the renault duaphine for example...

too bad peugeot cars are no longer sold in the states, a frenchman i knew scoffed at the idea of a toyota being upon the same level.

also it is unfortunate the smaller cars with high mileage and low emissions of europe are prohibited in the us, as they do not meet the crash tests.
in the land of the free you cannot choose such a car. so many SUV's weigh 5000+ lb.s this could be potentialy a disadvantage in a mishap, but the idea of fuel efficiency is being legislated against, and you know what the pro-gun folks say, it's not the gun that kills people, but the driver, er, i mean shooter.

Vive la France!

 

[Wurm]

Something from France that is very Picasso-esque, gets great gas mileage, and is faster than a Toyota! (not sure about the crash-test rating though...)