The French do like their wine and certainly drink wine with lunch and diner. Both take forever. I was a bit surprised to see the fire service chief jump in his car after lunch, but apparently, that was normal...

More annoyingly is that you now have to have an alcohol tester in your car, when driving in France.

Back on compact food; freeze-dried is my choice for something that actually looks like a meal. But for an emergency kit, something like a ration bar might be mine choice, simply due to shelf life. The NRG-5's are now rated for 20 years.