> it cost me something like 30 bucks and 30 minutes of my time
It cost you 30 bucks and 30 minutes of your time to pass the exam, not to learn how to drive. That’s what is costly in France, because it costs ~€50/hour to have someone teaching you how to drive. People usually take at least 20 hours to learn, which is 20x50 = €1000. If you already know how to drive you can bypass the whole process and pass the exam as a “candidat libre”, which is free [1] (but it’s hard to get a slot).
Where I learned in the US, we had a few weeks of driver's ed classes in HS, then practiced with an instructor for a bit. After that, getting a permit then a license was simple enough. At this point, I don't get anything more than vision tests and I don't actually have to renew my license until I'm 60 or something.
As far I can tell, though it's not said explicitly in the linked article, you still have to justify that you have driven 20 hours in a car with dual-command (which will cost you 15-20€/hour to rent). That might be better than going through a driving school, but that's definitely not as cheap as the US.
I did pass my test 14 years ago with 20,00 hours of driving lessons and 2400F (a ridiculous 350€). In the recent years, I know no-one who passed the test with less than 28 hours, and that's an unilateral decision on the school side.
It cost you 30 bucks and 30 minutes of your time to pass the exam, not to learn how to drive. That’s what is costly in France, because it costs ~€50/hour to have someone teaching you how to drive. People usually take at least 20 hours to learn, which is 20x50 = €1000. If you already know how to drive you can bypass the whole process and pass the exam as a “candidat libre”, which is free [1] (but it’s hard to get a slot).
[1]: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F2825.xhtml (in French)