Large cars, large bathrooms and large swimming pools

When Rachel moved to Roanoke these were her first impressions
upon arriving in Roanoke, VA:   "In the
US the cars are huge, bathrooms are enormous and clean
and swimming pools are large."  Rachel goes to an aquagym class
(water aerobics twice a week.  I think the last time she went may have
been her last;  she ended up fighting (she was in the pool) with
the instructor who was yelling directions from pool side.

this is NOT what Rachel experiences in aqua gym

There were about 30 women in knee deep water in a very small space.
Metz is a city of over 130,000 yet there are very view public pools.
For you lap swimmers, there are only two lanes available for perhaps
50 swimmers.

Regarding public toilets I recently read a post on about.com entitled,
 France, the Bad, the Ugly and Smelly.

This post was basically about the lack
of public toilets and when you
do find one they are rather dirty.
Rachel grew up with her
mom telling her to
 "pee between the two doors of the car,"
the front and the back door, when she needed to.
  Recently, while driving into Metz, I saw a man peeing by the curbside;  lovely.
And in the bathrooms at Alec's private, Catholic School there is no toilet paper
and the toilets are rather disgusting.

Now, what about cars.
 When I first came to France in 1976 I noticed how
small the cars were.  While many cars are still small here I do find that the cars
are getting much bigger.   With the price of gas so high and the village roads so
narrow, this "progress" is an inegma to me.

Perhaps I need to compare the  wine, the bread and the cheese next?