Paris feels like it's on the cusp of Spring, in a slow but steady awakening from the dormant winter. On Wednesday afternoon, as the tantalizing sunshine peered through the windows, I couldn't help but slip out to nearby Jardin du Luxembourg for some fresh air.

Long legs and croissants, red wine and clothing boutiques, chocolate and Macarons! It seems like to most people that there just cannot be a more pleasant place to live in the world other than Paris. I mean, who doesn't want to be sipping Bordeaux wine on the Seine river / Jardin des Tuileries / [insert any Paris location] in perfect 73 degrees weather? Okay, yes it rains a little here, and gets a tad bit colder in the winter - so you just go sip your Bordeaux wine under the heated covered outdoor patio of a café by the Seine instead. What could possibly be wrong?

1. Spend atrocious hours of time sitting in a café sipping red wine

Prior to dinners, not only do I expect two hours of pre-dinner chat outdoors over red wine. I also expect cafés to have heaters in the winter so I can sit outdoors and chat over red wine. Very mild temperature fluctuations in Paris facilitates this year-round activity, as temperatures rarely fall out of the 40-75 degrees range. 

The Parisian default expression is a mix of contempt, aloofness with a dash of elite cynicism. People watching is also a thing here, as demonstrated by the regards I’m getting from a man across from me. I look straight pass him with a perfected face of utter boredom. I'm on the train from Paris’ major south station Montparnasse that'll take me out towards HEC’s leafy suburban campus 20 miles southwest of the capital.