Prices, wine and bureaucracy

Any country where (good) wine is cheaper than Coke can't be all bad.

However, the counterpart is that sodas, bottled water, and almost everything else is VERY expensive, especially when the euro is above US$1.50, like it is as of this writing.

Bureaucracy, as all guides point out, is impossible, slow, difficult, and often illogical (there are numerous "Catch 22" situations, when you need step A before step B, but step B before step A).

The metro system is very efficient (in terms of covering all downtown Paris), but very dirty, smelly, crowded, and in many cases with old units, rails and stations that breakdown. Line 1 is almost impossible to ride during rush hour.

But, as a friend pointed out, no matter how terrible the bureaucracy or the metro ride, once you step out - you are in Paris!!