"- Paris reminded me in a lot of ways of a significantly more laid-back New York."
Probably the most striking thing for me is the difference in cafe culture. In the urban US, cafes are filled with professors and grad students, telecommuters, realtors and programmers working on their computers or on paper, while in Paris (and most of europe) they are filled with people just hanging out. I actually feel uncomfortable working at cafes in France, similar to how I felt in the late 90s and early naughts in US coffee shops, often being the only person with a laptop before wifi took off.
"- The food was great but it's difficult to find ethnic food in many parts of the city."
Strangely, Nantes and Bordeaux have a more noticeable diversity of restaurants than Paris, from what I've seen. The two are actually better in this regard than anywhere but a handful of neighborhoods in the US, although there is still a much stronger emphasis on meat than in the US.
Probably the most striking thing for me is the difference in cafe culture. In the urban US, cafes are filled with professors and grad students, telecommuters, realtors and programmers working on their computers or on paper, while in Paris (and most of europe) they are filled with people just hanging out. I actually feel uncomfortable working at cafes in France, similar to how I felt in the late 90s and early naughts in US coffee shops, often being the only person with a laptop before wifi took off.
"- The food was great but it's difficult to find ethnic food in many parts of the city."
Strangely, Nantes and Bordeaux have a more noticeable diversity of restaurants than Paris, from what I've seen. The two are actually better in this regard than anywhere but a handful of neighborhoods in the US, although there is still a much stronger emphasis on meat than in the US.