Given the economic reality of the time, it is a wonder that the French Line's France was ever built.  By the time she came along, most travelers were boarding passenger jets and the transatlantic era was already in its twilight.  Still, not to be outdone by the much ballyhooed SS United States, the French simply had to have their final entry into an already fading era.  Like the Normandie's deco-to-excess, the France applied the same treatment to mid-century modern.  Her interiors scream style over comfort, and even her funnels (which have always reminded me of The Flying Nun), seem to be exaggerations of those of her American rival.  Still, she's about as swanky a ship as you'll ever find, and so she makes the number 9 spot in shipgeek's top 10!

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