France calls for the end of the internal combustion engine!

Please don't say it so loud...

Rgds

 

Makes complete sense to me, for the majority of people cars are just white goods,like a washing machine. For the rest of us in the future, car enthusiasts will be like horseriding enthusiasts are now.
I have no issue with the concept of using an electric car for my 90 mile a day commute on congested fun free roads and enjoying my old cars for fun at the weekend.

 

The problem is if the boring people are in power and legislate against us using our "horses".

 

A good point but without wandering into politics I also think the sooner the worlds reliance on oil ends the better for all of us.

 

I'm not worried. We'll see what technology advancements have been made in the next 20 years.

If it does come to the point that IC cars are banned in the civilized world...you can find me on a beach in the pacific, with a surfboard and some 20 year old surfer girl as my companion.

 

Not worried either.....I will be the guy in the "Red Barchetta"

"Suddenly ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase"

Rush - Red Barchetta (album - Moving Pictures)

 

By 2040 my main mode of transportation will be an electric golf cart anyway so I won't care

 

only your last line carries any weight for me.....literally.

the early adopters of ICE machines could carry their fuel with them.
carrying batteries is not practical.

BUT, having a hybrid, and then carrying your liquid fuel with you, could happen.

i find the entire discussion tragic though.....government directed behavior instead of economically directed behavior.

 

+1


The geo-politic map of the world may soon change with less reliance on fossil fuels, that's for sure.

The rich Middle East states may start begging soon, for a start, and Russia too ...

 

That doesn't mean that some forms of motor sport using the IC won't still exist.

Although the spectators to these events will travel by electric cars.

 

Progress can be achieved on battery size and weight in the next decades. One can imagine an emergency battery pack the size of a medium size suitcase that you could take in your office, or your hotel room to recharging if you think you could be in difficulty. I spoke to electric car drivers, and they don't seem bothered with the range here in UK.

There is also the solution of cars having a small generator to top up the battery when far away from plugging points. But that's still relying on petrol to produce electricity.

I think the "government directed behaviour" was dictated by the increasing pollution in urban areas, not addressed by the car makers.

The public has feigned ignorance in the matter by buying increasing bigger engines, to have absolutely useless amount of power under the right foot.

The car manufacturers have themselves to blame, IMO.

 

far better than kippers and figgy pudding ole bean.

 

Vichy water is great! love the town as well. Napoleon III made it very fashionable to be there ....

 

Well, nevertheless the heritage of the Second World War is a heavy burden for the city; still today.
And avoid calling anyone a "Vichyste", unless you really want to offense him (or her)...sugesting that he has no courage, no respect of his own opinions, cannot be trusted, and is always trying to be on the most confortable side, whatever this one might be.

Rgds

 

As said above, frog taste close to chicken. The Chinese eat frogs too, but they can be more violent than we do, plunging these alive into boiling oil or water...

Rgds

 

I question it - it's just hope, not based on any reality. In the 1960s, everyone thought that there would be thousands of people working and living in Space and on other planets/moons -- how'd that work out?

 

I love Vichy too, and like to visit relatives there as often as I can when travelling through France.
Vichy is a quiet town, clean and tidy, I find.
I wouldn't mind living there at all...

 

The French only eat frog legs, no?

Not the entire frog.

At least that's what I was offered once or twice.

 

That would make you a Vichissois, not a Vichyste. Be careful...

Rgds

 

Cuisse de Grenouiles a ail et persil.... with some Mosel, or Reisling.... & frites... not a bad little lunch.

Escargot bourguigonne.... fantastic with crusty baguette, and some cote de nuit...

you don't eat like that in England ... unless cooked by a Frenchman! ( or in the USA for that matter) ...

 

Absolutely, true these days; in the old ages, as said above, it was a plate of the poors, eaten in the regions of swamps (the only meat available) and it is probable that they ate more than the legs.
The name of the usual plate these days is "Cuisses de Grenouilles" which is litterally "Frogs thighs". By the way, contrary to the common perspective many may have from abroad, except in some regions, it is not that common in restaurants, and really not easy to find at all. I think that it is even getting out of fashion.
Snails are much easier to find in a restaurant...but are not to everybody's taste.

Rgds

 

en Alsace on se trouve les cuisses de grenouilles, tres facile non?

 

Yes, I gathered that frogs legs are considered delicacies, and not common on a menu.

As for "les escargots" (snails), a restaurateur told me that now most are imported from Eastern Europe (Czechoslovakia?) , and very few originate from France nowadays. Whatever, I rather like them!!

 

Yes, but the region these are most associated with are the Dombes, which you must know: it is a region in the South of Bourgogne, somewhat slightly North-East to Lyon, which is just opposite to Switzerland.

The great Alexandre Dumas, who was a gourmet and a "famous fork" ("une fameuse fourchette" = someone who likes to eat well, and can also eat a lot) in his monumental book « Le grand dictionnaire de cuisine » describes among others the « Potage de grenouilles » (frog’s soup) and « les Grenouilles en fricassée de poulet » (Frogs made as in a Fricassee of Chicken)

Rgds