A Renault Electrique
A Venturi Voltage, "Electric" was a big theam at the showI met up with a French friend Eva on Saturday the 11th and we went to the Paris Auto Expo. While the main focus of the event was on new European cars, Citroen, Renault, Peugot, BMW, VW, Mercedes, etc. they had cars from every single maker I have ever heard of and about twice as many that I hadn't. The sheer size of the Expo was incredible. It was housed in eight enormous showrooms, 4 were dedicated to new technology, historic exhibits including taxis from the last century from all over the world, and a go-kart track. The other four had cars, lots of cars, between 5-10 makers in each building, each maker with anywhere from 5-20 cars on display. They had everything from Hondas to Ferrari's, Hummers, Dodge (which was very oddly popular), Bentlys and so many more that I can't remember.
We spent hours walking around, jumping in cars, turning up the stereos, honking the horns, popping the hood, looking at the engines and making disappointed faces. Every single car on display was flanked by at least one, sometimes up to four, very attractive women who upon inquiry new just about nothing about the cars. This upset my date quite a bit and after getting tired of hearing "Where are all the men?" I walked up to a Renault, popped the hood, took off my shirt, stuck it in the back of my pants and did my best "grease monkey searching under the hood" impression. I began to point out and name the various parts of the engine that I knew (thank you bus driving for a useful education) and describing the finer qualities of the automobile, all half-naked. This drew a small crowd with many Japanese cameras and a lot of laughs. The attractive docent didn't think it was quite as funny as everyone else and quickly escorted me away from the Renault exhibition. Needless to say Eva was in tears from laughter. Great success!
