Colors of another country

It has been several days now since I am back home but my scanner has given me troubles and I could not get the images I wanted.
Even though this last trip to my native country (France) was to visit my family and not at all work-related, I can't help keeping my eyes from seeing things from an aesthetic point of view and always have work in the back of my mind.

The city where my family now lives, Royan, was 80% or so destroyed after bombardments during the second world war. The city was then reconstructed in the early 50's in a style popular then and with a material, namely concrete, that was very much in vogue. Next to these concrete structures, there are still some of the older limestone villas (among which Emile Zola's summer house) on the beach front. Most of the older buildings in the surrounding cities and villages, a number of them dating from the roman invasion as well as XI and XII centuries, are also made of limestone. When I compare the newer buildings with the older ones, concrete versus limestone, I realize how limestone is so much warmer and softer (yes, that is what I said) that concrete. Something in the color of the stone and its texture makes it psychologically warmer to me, particularly with the gorgeous backdrop of nature. I also think the shapes of the buildings made of stones are softer that the concrete structures, which tend to be rather "blocky". I guess I miss limestone buildings here, may be because for me they are also synonymous with "home" .

(The top images are by my son, Julien House, and the bottom images are from Benezac Bommunications, http://www.bernezac.com/)

Another thing that struck me while I was waiting in one of Paris main train stations is that the crowds are "dark". Most people are wearing black or very dark clothes and when one looks at the mass of people, it is indeed a very dark mass. No colorful and vibrant crowd such as many that can be seen here. I am not sure why that is. French people do like color also. Could it just be that the dress code is more conservative? I wonder if a crowd in a southern city, let's say Marseille for example, would be as dark? An interesting thing to think about more.