I took some French classes and picked up some Italian by spending some time in Italy. I wouldn't say either language is easier, but I'd say Italians are (at least back in my day) incredibly patient with non-Itlalian speakers flipping through a dictionary in order to talk to them. Anyway, French and Italian are related (both Romance languages) and speaking either one will make the other easier.

I find spoken Quebec French almost unintelligible even though I can somewhat understand French from France. Even French people have some trouble with Quebec French, especially as you go further east and the dialect gets stronger. It's a bigger difference than the difference between regional accents in the US. But, written French is mostly the same between France and Quebec, so at least you'll be able to read the signs.

I also once had the idea of improving my French by spending some time in Quebec, but then realized I'd end up speaking the Quebec dialect, which apparently is comparable to hillbilly English in how it sounds to French people.

Added: You don't mention what part of the US you are in. I'm in California and the most useful language here other than English is probably Spanish, then maybe Chinese. If you want a Romance language, maybe consider Spanish? It is pretty close to Italian, enough that I once managed to confuse the two.