CultureStructure

The French government structure is very centralize, the government is able to set universal standards that apply thorough France. It has been my experience that the departments are not like states in the US, they have little power to change what is set by the national government. That said the French don't sit around if the national government does something they don't like, in 1995 France was just about shutdown by strikes and protest against the policies of the newly elected Chirac government.

Capitals in France tend to be in big cities, not like in the US. Most times the largest city in a department is the capital of that department and has the Préfecture, the government office where things like passports, car registrations, drivers license and resident papers are processed. When you need to get any of the above there more than likely is a lot of paperwork. "A form for everything", seems to be the motto of the French bureaucracy, nothing came be processed unless all questions are answered by a form. There is a process, that I have not figured out, that must be followed in order for any government related paperwork to get done in France.