Against 6. a3 I was most sympathetic to 7...b6. 7...Nbc6 is fully satisfactory, but 7...b6 felt more thematic.

I recall Watson in PTF (I don't remember which version) gave both as =.

A few additions to Dom's great overview, based on Psachis:

B) 7...b6 intending to exchange the bishops of the light squares is to be considered.
C) Black can do an octopussy with 6.f4 Nf5 (Bxc3 7.Bxc3 b6!? again; Psachis also suggests this after 6.Nf3) 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.Nb5 Ne3.

dom, this is an amazing amount of work.  Thanks so much.  I've entered all these lines into Fritz and I'll get to looking closer as time permits.  One question; in line "C", after 10...g6, what was Whites reply? 

Thanks Kylemeister.  All of my chess books are from the 1990's and earlier.  For the French I've been using the original ECO and "The French Defence" published by RHM Press.  The only thing new I've got is Fritz 10, and these forums.  I few days ago I ordered MCO 15 and I'm looking forward to it's arrival. 

Watson doesn’t think much of Dzindzi’s offerings: “Sometimes the recommended lines were initially attractive, but soon I figured out what was wrong, usually just a good move or two not mentioned at the appropriate juncture.”  He finds the same problems in “Chess Openings for White, Explained”.  I don’t have the book but after watching the video, Fritz 10 and I found 1-2 of GM Perelshteyn’s assessments to be over optimistic; Black was actually equal rather than in a difficult position.

Specifically, Watson addresses just two line, 5…Nh6, and 5…Ne7.  He pretty much rips apart DPA’s recommendations in both.  Re: 5...Nh6, Watson says “a move with which I've had great success, and which has done well since its introduction into grandmaster play. DPA recommend the line 6 Nb5 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2 0–0 8 f4.” etc, etc, and I’m not about to question him.  However, Fritz 10 prefers 6.a3 and I found a few interesting games in my database leading to positions I wouldn’t mind playing for White.

After Watson’s dismantling of 5...Ne7, the line from the video, I’ll need to take a much loser look.  Perhaps Fritz 10’s preference for 6.a3 here will hold up as well.  In any event, just because the book is full of holes doesn’t necessarily mean the 5.Bd2 line is bad.  

It’s encouraging that dom avoids 4…c5 5.Bd2 cxd4 6.Nb5, and that Keano finds Bogoljubov’s move useful as well.  So, bottom line for now seems to be that the Nb5 counter play idea might be suspect in some lines and that a3 may still be a requirement of the position.      

yes Dzin,Pereshlstein book and Bd2 move have been deal here before  in forum  (and maybe also in older posts):
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1205718353/2#2

If you thought Bd2 was a very good all purpose move against the French ...I am sure you will be disappointed...only part of one system among others !? 

You might look at this:
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/john-watson-reviews/good...good...good...disastrous