That “Extreme Gene” that possesses the French...

Last night, I watched that documentary “Birdmen” about these crazy young people that don wing-suits and jump off cliff in an attempt to follow the terrain nooks and cranies in an almost free-fall.

Of course, that kind of extreme activity finds largely its roots in France and made me once more realize that if America is the land of entertainment, sports, entrepreneurship and technology, France is the capital of extreme activities like wing-suit flying, extreme skiing, mountaineering, solo navigating, and rope walking to name just a few.

What possess the French to put their lives on the line for a quick surge of adrenaline? Is it some lingering French revolutionary spirit in which nothing gives? Perhaps, it's in the water, better yet in the fine wines of that country, or perhaps in the air fogged up by the smoke of “Gauloises” that our forebearers enjoyed so liberally...