lets not forget the great French ocean liner "NORMANDIE".... It was the "example" for all ships in terms of speed, design, grandeur and luxury. It was the finest representation of French culture and "Bon Vivant" afloat....
for those of us interested in nautical history, the ocean liner NORMANDIE ; of purely French design and pride, was the first ocean liner to exceed 1000 feet in length; had great electric turbine engines; it was the forunner to the original Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary British liners. In fact, the prow of Normandie was copied for the design of the QE2 and the new QM2. Prior to the second world war NORMANDIE was the third largest electric power plant in existence ( the city of NY was 1st, and the city of Paris 2nd); the fact that it was a movable electric power plant made it valuble during wartime.
After the Vichy government fell to the Germans, the liner was layed up in NY harbor for protection during the war. Years later the US government commendeered it as a troop ship and while fitting it out ( American incompetence---or more disturbing---German sabatage) it caught fire and had so much water poured into it that it capsized at the pier. The hulk sat there until the end of the war when it was chopped up as scrap and sold.
NO WONDER THE FRENCH DESPISE AMERICANS. This was a great representation of French engineering and design.
Pieces of artwork and furniture which were taken off the liner while it was being outfiitted as a troop ship sat in storage for years and were eventually auctioned off. Many fetch tremendous prices today; I have a small piece of its history ( a very small piece, an ashtray).
As reparations of war, the French were granted the German liner BREMEN which they out fitted and renamed the LIBERTE; in honor of French freedom. Later in the early 1960s, the French government commissioned the liner FRANCE.
Nothing came close to the immortal NORMANDIE.
In honor of this great ship; I am moved to say "Vive la France!"
