I've had beautiful experiences in France, traveling through Provence - sweet, friendly people and air sweetened with the fragrance of wild lavender, pretty landscapes, .... I agree with you about 'big city syndrome' but I must make one ammendment. The people of NY have a brusque demeanor, but that doesn't make them unfriendly. On the contrary. I'm inclined to say that New Yorkers are the friendliest people in the world. Where else in the world could you be eating a banana, looking for a trash can, have some security guy on his cell phone walking by, not even making eye contact with you, yet extending his arm to indicate that he'll take that peel? Certainly not in London where doormen parade in front of doors but won't take your bags, hold the door or any of the other courtesies that NY doormen do naturally. Perhaps its because in our uber-capitalist economy, at every moment, either you're evaluating someone or someone is evaluating you. So service comes naturally to us in NY, Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, New Orleans, ............
I agree - New Yorkers are friendly and not as uptight as people in many other cities.
People in south of France were friendly - even in the tourist areas IME.