Courteousness in Paris

I've been hanging out in Paris for a week now, and one thing that shocks me is how surprised people are when you're nice to them. The default here is to expect that everyone wants something from you (cigarette, money) and to just turn away (albeit, there is a lot of begging here).

So, when someone realizes that you're just asking for directions, or gently holding the door for them, I always get the feeling they're happy to help but really surprised that you're not trying to extract something from them.

Weird people.