Time for a list. We all love lists. Especially if they have a level of, oh, difficulty involved.

Ten ways in which a reasonable person would prefer being in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates over The City of Light, Gay Paree … blah blah blah.

Let’s count them down. Here we go.

10. Abu Dhabi cabs. Numerous. With generally polite drivers. And they are dirt cheap. Dirt cheap. OK, a comparison: Our rides to the airport in Paris and from the airport in Abu Dhabi were about the same distance. The French ride cost $65; the Abu Dhabi ride cost $14. With a 10 percent tip.

9.  Indian food. Note that we are not saying “food” in general. Indian food. About 2 million Indians live in a country of 7 million, and a lot of them are very good in the kitchen.

8. Domestic help. Having a housekeeper come through your little apartment is about $15 an hour in Paris. It is about $7 an hour here.

7. Everyone in Abu Dhabi speaks English. More or less. Enough to make yourself understood. And no one gets agitated if you don’t speak the national language (Arabic) or the most common mother-tongue languages (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam). It makes life easier.

6. Groceries! A 1.5-liter bottle of Evian cost $1 in Paris. A similar-size bottle of Masafi (the Cadillac of bottled water here) costs 40 cents. A baguette is $1.50; a loaf of bread in Abu Dhabi is $1. A roasted chicken is about $8 in Paris; in Abu Dhabi is $3.25. And so on.

5. No taxes. Paris dings you 20 percent on just about every purchase of hard goods. Abu Dhabi has no sales tax and no income tax.  No sales or income tax. It adds up. Fast.

4. The weather in the month of November.

3. December.

2. January.

1. February.