The Enigmatic French

France is a land full of paradox and contradiction - illogical yet obsessed with intelligence, beauty and bad taste somehow coexisting, freedom of expression and the fear of it a constant undercurrent of daily life. Allow me to elaborate. When I arrived for my first visit to Paris 12 years ago, my foremost impression was that art was what the city was all about. With countless museums, sculpture everywhere in the parks and on the street, exhibitions advertised by the score in the metro, and edgy window displays, it is art and more art everywhere you look! Parisians eat it up like stinky cheese, yet historically they have resisted the shocking - from the Tour d'Eiffel (once considered hideously ugly) to the Pyramid designed by I.M. Pei in front of the Louvre (also considered hideous). But given 20 years or so these new concepts are accepted and embraced. Paris is known as "the fashion capital of the world", yet there is little that is fashion forward here. Unless you consider shorts with black tights and boots in the dead of winter forward thinking, I see nothing on the streets to back up this claim. I'm not saying that french women don't have a certain je ne sais quoi, they most certainly do! But if you dare wear boots instead of ballet flats after a certain day in March you'll get the stinkeye for sure. The french love technology, and gadgets. Everyone had an IPOD here years before americans caught on, yet the french aren't very comfortable with e-commerce. It is just starting to take hold, and the average frenchman is still not aware of Craigslist. Food plays a huge role in the lifestyle here - the average dinner party lasts for a minimum of three hours, with as many courses. Yet they have no idea how to properly grill a steak! The french are known for their sexual prowess, and yet they are repressed and often quite shy. They are obsessed with rules, and like nothing more than to break them. Just when I think I get it, I realize I don't - in fact I feel like I understand the french mind less now than I did when I arrived three years ago!