How does one " manually fly" a non-manual (FBW, "protected", Airbus) airplane?
TTex, I think some have missed the subtlety of your point. In normal law on an Airbus, there are always two of you flying - one pilot and the aircraft: The pilot tells the aircraft where s/he wants to go, but the aircraft still has some control in the background - giving flight path stability and also protections; limiting bank angle and 'g' etc. The closest you can get to real manual would be to fly in direct law.
However, once you get your head round this, it is no problem to fly manually - just don't stir the stick too much because then you will be fighting the flight control computers. Just nudge it where you want it to go.