Agree with that. Only problem now is 3...dxe

Wow ... a tricky topic, Nd2 or Nc3?

Well for me as Black, I like to play against Nc3 with the Winawer and its resulting positions but against Nd2, it's a very tough nut to crack and I think I like this move as White when facing the French myself. I don't like facing my pet openings/defences myself but this unfortunately, I can't avoid. 

I noticed GM Adams loves to dismantle the French with Nd2 in his games with consumate ease, not sure what other people think.

Hello armwrister, I suggest you to open another thread with the variation "Classical variation with 12.b4!?" . 
You can reactivate other threads as given by castlerock, but there as many pages in the threads and it will be more easy, to start with a new one and few answers.

To answer shortly: 12.b4!? is analyzed in NiC YB 60 by Karel van der Weide (maybe more recent analysis exists and it will be a good idea to search on www.newinchess.com database) . I can develop in another thread next moves.

Try in one of these threads or open a new one and you'll have lot of discussions

http://altmax.com/cgi-local/cpf/YaBB.cgi?board=2-French;action=display;num=11289...

http://altmax.com/cgi-local/cpf/YaBB.cgi?board=2-French;action=display;num=11251...

http://altmax.com/cgi-local/cpf/YaBB.cgi?board=2-French;action=display;num=11189...

Yes,but if you look at the wider prespective,the subvariatios also come under the main variations viz Nd2 and Nc3 so i think there is no harm in discussing them, and when i studied Nc3 deeply i found that some of the strong players changed from Nd2 to Nc3,like svidler,ivanchuk,kramnik and kasparov himself.

I am also not really the household expert on the Steinitz (I play Bg5), so I am prolly the wrong one to ask.

willempie ,
              in 4.e5 line ,a sideline which goes like this,
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 a6 7.Be3 Qb6!?..when 8.a3 and Na4 dont seem to give white much and another line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 a6 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 b5 9.dc5 Bc5 10.Bc5 Nc5 11.Qf2 Qb6,what do you think of the move 12.b4!?...

I dont see the problem. They are not opposite end scales, just which features are more dominant. Similar to colours. Most colours are more dominantly blue or red, but they are not opposites.
Granted agressiveness may not be the proper word and sharpness may be even better, but I still think agressiveness is a decent description.
But you will definately have to agree that a move like a4 immediately emphasises positional features, while Qg4 and h4 bring more direct threats on the board and Qg4 in a more extreme fashion.

Back to the subject of Bg5 and e5. I think the latter gives white most of the options, but with less direct chances of attack, while Bg5 may give more opportunities (Alekhine-Chatard or the Anderssen, while the main line isnt very agressive but still quite good). On the other hand black has more options as well ranging from counterattacking with Bb4 to "chickening out" with dxe4. So personally I'd focus on e5, until you got your Winawer up and running and then look into Bg5 and make up your mind.