I'm happy when I'm writing C. It's only when I look back on a week of coding and realise how little functionality I implemented that I realise it's a bad idea.
Interesting, since I feel just the opposite. In C++, most of the time, I can write the precise intent of what the code should do, and I can also choose the level of abstractness, without compromising on performance!
I think the main trick with C++ is to learn the best practices first, and only use those one thoroughly understood.
Maybe, I don't know. I have been a lot happier with C though, while still writing some C++ code during the year.