Hello !
I just wanted to introduce you to our new HomePage at http://fr.wikipedia.org/
I like the French design. One thing it demonstrates quite well is how protecting pages reduces the potential for progress. I checked the history: the French design is the result of a fairly amazing evolution, which is not possible on the English Wikipedia because the main page is protected.
I, Mav and Enchanter have been experimenting with using similar colored tables for the English main page. One problem I have with the current French design is while the colors are pretty, they don't seem to mean much. Maybe the yellow that is used for special+talk+wikipedia pages should come to be identified with the community.
Regards,
Erik