Flying in from Paris

After basing her career in the French capital for 20 years, Brown returned to her hometown in 1997, though not to her home.

"Paris is home," she explains, recalling fondly how after her schooling ended there, her career began and matured there. The city of light was where she discovered herself as a performer and as a person.

"I have sung everywhere in Paris. Everywhere I walk in Paris, I come across places where I have performed."

Almost ten years after her repatriation, "I still come off as a Parisian when I'm there. It's a place where visitors and tourists really stick out."

Despite Brown's love affair with Paris,  big city living began to wear on her. The traffic, the pollution, the isolation from nature, and the increasingly bureaucratic French government.

Though her career remains dependent on frequent visits to big cities, she feels Ottawa is a more comfortable place for her now, and obviously closer to her roots.

"Ottawa is a nice size and you still get the international feel," she says.

"Still, sometimes I wonder if wasn't so happy in my marriage whether I'd move back to Paris."

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