Frenchman here, I have lived in various French cities, and currently live in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Amsterdam, NL
I strongly recommend Amsterdam, and most reasons presumably also apply to other Dutch cities:
- People are very friendly and polite, and often they will spontaneously offer help. Sometimes, this is so acute that it becomes kind of a facade, and may hide the true personality of some people. But overall it makes them seem very friendly; even policemen are always really nice and understanding.
- People are very pragmatic and open-minded: they will not care about any quirks or weird habits, unless it really bothers them. They usually do not let traditions or beliefs hold them back, most of them are very reasonable people.
- You do not need to speak Dutch. Everybody speaks English — even kids! (For a Frenchman, this is impressive.) If you already speak English and German, learning basic Dutch will be easy anyway.
- Most people deeply care for the environment: there is a lot of nature, and of course the famous bikes — the whole country is flat anyway.
- Specific to Amsterdam: only half of the population is Dutch, which makes it a crazy melting pot. In general, both the law and the people are very friendly to foreigners.
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Paris, FR
Paris is a lot bigger than Amsterdam (although not much bigger than Boston), and is very specific compared to other (especially southern) French cities.
- There is an incredible cultural activity and unique artistic collections, a shitload of museums, theaters, concert halls... There is always an interesting exhibition somewhere, you will never have enough time to attend everything.
- The economy is prolific and diverse: you can find a job in pretty much any sector — provided you are good enough. Paris is home of many startups and other dynamic small companies.
- It is the home of a refined lifestyle: good wine in bars, many excellent restaurants, specialized stores for whatever food/drink from anywhere in the world.
- The city itself is utterly beautiful: an aesthetic equilibrium of many architectural styles, uncountable monuments and magnificent buildings. The city is more than two thousand years old (though it was a lot smaller back then), and you can feel it when you walk on the old cobblestones.
However, it has its downsides:
- Not that many people speak a good English. Really. You will have to live with it.
- People can be polite I you show curtesy yourself, but they can also be quite rude if you are unlucky. Someone telling you they are too busy to help you find some direction is not surprising there.
- Public transportation is pretty good (except when you go to the suburbs), but driving (and parking!) is a nightmare. There are nine hills in Paris, so biking will take some strength — and some nerve, because people do not drive nicely.