As an continental European, first time I heard about Netherlands as a "paragon of virtue". Is this some UK/US talking point?

If you're from the US you don't think of the Netherlands as a thing pretty much at all.

There’s a subset of people who see the Netherlands as a public transport/biking perfection utopia.

No idea how true it is.

Probably just my ignorance as an American. I have vague positive associations with the Netherlands due to: bicycles, legal weed, advancements in agricultural technology and ocean control, historical contribution to the development of capitalism/merchant republic history, plain-spoken culture, and Dutch friends of mine.

They also seem very stable, and have been allies with the USA for longer than pretty much any other country.

For British people, the Dutch are seen as plain-spoken and very socially liberal. Also they were the last country to successfully invade, although with some handy PR we now call it The Glorious Revolution rather than “the time the Dutch conquered us”