France - Terminal decline, or just misunderstood

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
german

Tee hee

[Drake Tungsten]

no, they don't. i'd have to say the best rail system is either german or japanese.

True dat.

[Q Classic]

come on... at least germans have enough taste not to color their fastest train puke orange...

[Drake Tungsten]

The shinkansen is purty...

[Saras]

After some coolheaded amateur research I concluded that bashing France as the eternal military loser is wrong. They had their ups, and they had their downs. As did UK, Germany, Russia and USA.

[Q Classic]

saras, since when is cool-headed research appreciated on there forums! bad!

[mindseye]

They build gorgeous automobiles. That alone gives them high marks in my book.

I'm betting that the culture that created French baroque music has more gems in store for us.

Viva la France!

- mindseye, who intentionally moved to an apartment next to a Carrefour, so he can enjoy a steady supply of freshy-baked french bread

[Bereta_Eder]

Tu es foutu tu tu tu ru tu tu

[C0ckney]

france, lovely place, shame about the people

[Henrik]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
no, they don't. i'd have to say the best rail system is either german or japanese.

Have you actually tried to travel by train in Germany?

Their entire rail network was built before, during or just after the war, and in my opinion it's starting to show a lot.
Not that I've tried the French or Japanese trains but I doubt saying the German's have the best rail system in the world is correct.

[TheStinger]

I see the french at something of a crossroads, for the last 2-3 decades they have dominated the EU and have molded its future(with the agreement of the Germans) However with the accesion of the new countries and the fact that other larger nations like Spain and Italy no longer always go along with the French view means that the futirre direction of the EU may not be in the way the French want. This could mean that the French become increasinly eurosceptic and may seek to stop any further plans to bring foreign and defence policies together if it seems that that area of policy will not be "Francophone"

[Bereta_Eder]

Seeing as their is contemplation for a state merger of France and Germany which would create the definite nucleus for further EU integration building on the pre-existing Paris-Berlin axis, no I find that hard to believe.

Also Italy = Berlusconi. Need I say more?
As for Spain, check the opinion polls and you'll see that the Aznar aftermath will be just that, an aftermath.

The new EU countries are gagging for it (the EU) and they have already been slapped (except Cyprus) for not doing the preparations quick enough.

[Q Classic]

Their entire rail network was built before, during or just after the war, and in my opinion it's starting to show a lot.
Not that I've tried the French or Japanese trains but I doubt saying the German's have the best rail system in the world is correct.

the one time i did ride it, it was precisely on time.
haven't ridden the french one, but when you're used to amtrak, anything's better.

[rixxe]

Originally posted by Henrik
Not that I've tried the French or Japanese trains but I doubt saying the German's have the best rail system in the world is correct.

You're right, the best rail system is the swiss one

As for the french, I don't think it's a terminal decline, if they take the right decisions:

- Decentralization
- Abort the 35 hours law
- Reduce the taxes
- Better urbanisation (it can't be worse anyway)

Oh, and they must understand that they're not a superpower anymore.

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by paiktis22
Seeing as their is contemplation for a state merger of France and Germany which would create the definite nucleus for further EU integration building on the pre-existing Paris-Berlin axis, no I find that hard to believe.

Also Italy = Berlusconi. Need I say more?
As for Spain, check the opinion polls and you'll see that the Aznar aftermath will be just that, an aftermath.

The new EU countries are gagging for it (the EU) and they have already been slapped (except Cyprus) for not doing the preparations quick enough.

Surprisingly I wasn't having ago at the French or the EU.

I was just saying that the accesion countires may cause a change in the dynamic of the EU which could result in the French not being as happy with the direction it is going in.

Berlusconi is clearly a clown, however that doesn't mean Italy is not going to start to assert itself even when he has gone.

I thought that in Spain that Aznar's party were likely to win