One of the big stereotypes of Paris is fashion and high society. My assumption was that he was saying people are dressed like slobs, that there's a lot of evidence of poverty, and people don't hold themselves in a manner someone with an idealistic view of Paris and Parisians would imagine.

Having been to Paris myself, all of these are true.

Duly addressed in my edit above.

Are you familiar with the concept of confirmation bias? Look hard enough for something and you'll see it ... whether it's there or not.