Though she was born in England and moved to Canada with her family as a child, Julia Browne has always been interested in French culture. A writer and broadcaster, she finally made the move to the place that had interested her for so long in the 1990s. It was there, in Paris, that she discovered links between the city’s culture and black history. Her curiosity drove her to learn more and, today, she operates Walking the Spirit Tours, an in-depth, personalized tour of the city that takes visitors through 200 years of African-American and African history in the city.

How did Walking the Spirit Tours get started?
I was new to the city and was just getting accustomed to Paris; I wasn’t there looking for Black History. I had a copy of the late Professor Michel Fabre’s Street Guide to African Americans in Paris, and saw Langston Hughes had lived about three to four blocks from where I was staying, near Place Clichy. So I went there, snuck in the building, went up to the 6th floor where his apartment had been and just …

Travel Expert-at-Large Nelson George takes you on a tour of Paris.

Walking through markets in Paris like Marche aux Puces and seeing ‘Obama and Family’ t-shirts and his face on magazine covers at press stands for sale thousands of miles away sends a powerful message. I can't tell you how many people were more willing to talk about President Barack Obama rather than France's own Nicolas Sarkozy.

Studying abroad in France gives me a better appreciation for so many of the things that I take for granted as an American. As citizens, most of us feel entitled to the things we receive in the US. We have a President who is governing over our country, but is loved by millions all over the globe. I now feel as a young black woman, having President Barack Obama is the cherry on warm American pie.