Why are the French the way they are? To answer that question, Kirt Mead had to go back to the old Roman Gaul before the country was even formed.

Basically, it all started with good real estate, said Mead. The hexagon shaped land that later became France was always the best plot in Europe.

“The French have never wanted to leave,” he told a group gathered at the Marion Music Hall on Aug. 26.

At a recent lecture sponsored by the Sippican Historical Society titled, “An American ON Paris” Mead gave a whirlwind history of the country, tracing the origins of French thought and culture.

Mead, a Marion resident, moved to Paris with his family in 1977 and lived in Europe for 40 years. While there, he learned that if you want to know what the French really think, you have to stay up late into the night.

Through work as a consultant, friendships, a lot of books and those late dinners, he came up with some answers.

Royalty was established early in the country’s history and with it a detailed hierarchy that continues to this day in some respects.

“The French knew early on it was all about marketing, was all about image,” said Mead.

The people have a love hate relationship with top down authority.

“People are either at your throat or at your feet, rebellious or submissive,” said Mead.

And they definitely think differently than Americans.

The French, said Mead, “don’t ask if it works in practice. They ask if it works in theory.”

Through hundreds of years, the monarchy kept some power, while also occasionally running the country into the ground. Still, their failure to keep the coffers full is not what determines a successful king for the French. Even today, glitz and glory hold a lot of sway.

Louis XIV is still admired for creating the chateaux Versailles and running the government day in and day out for 50 years, though he bankrupted the country.

“This is the kind of king they wanted ­– a superman,” said Mead.

Despite an unstable government and civil unrest, Paris became a hub for artists and intellectuals. They flocked to the City of Lights off and on for years, beginning in the 18^th century.

“It was where the public intellectual was being invented,” Mead said. “If you couldn’t speak French, you weren’t anybody.”

Even after the French Revolution, people “flocked” to the country.

“Paris was rich with innovations. It was trendy to be there,” said Mead.

But Mead isn’t sure if that will continue. The mass migration of expatriates to the country, drawn by new ideas and culture, hasn’t happened in more than 50 years.

The immigrants who have come to France aren’t fitting in, leading to unrest.

“It’s all about France not being able to assimilate these people,” said Mead. He called the presence of an army of national police “seriously intimidating.”

But some aspects of French life are still appealing, he said. Instead of the high pressure economic model, the French take a more laid back view on work.

“Lunch is more important than work. They’re not interested in getting ahead. The country takes the whole month of August off,” he said. “Ask which model you’d prefer to live under.”

Mead finished his lecture saying he wasn’t sure what would happen to France, but his memories of the hexagonal country are positive.

“I have nothing but fond memories of my time there,” he said. “We went over there on a wing and a prayer and it worked. It was the adventure of my life.”