Paris from the Passenger Seat

I just returned from Paris where I mostly took the Metro and walked, but there was one day I decided to take a "Taxi Parisien". I was curious how cabs in the City of Light differ from those in the City of Angels. Similar to the taxis in Bangkok, the cab had some trinkets hanging from the rearview mirror, including some wooden prayer beads, a small panda character, and a little green eiffel tower. However, the overall experience was unlike riding in a Thai taxi. First of all, the cabby in Paris did not need to ask me for directions like the drivers in Bangkok typically do. The other thing is that the Parisian cabby could speak perfect English as opposed to Thai taxi drivers who usually only know how to say, "Where you go?".