Girls Guide to Paris: Your Resource for Paris and More

Place des Vosges

There are so many websites and blogs on Paris that you can spend hours—if not days—perusing them in an effort to find the information you’re seeking for the City of Light. Want to check out the hottest restaurants? How about some up-to-the-minute fashion news? Or even better, do you need to find just the right place of lodging for your dream trip? Girls Guide to Paris provides this and more.

Doni Belau, Founder of Girls Guide to Paris

I chatted with Doni Belau, founder of this dynamic site on Paris and other French destinations, during a special April in Paris Travel Fun interview last month. Click on the play button below to listen to what Doni has to say about yet another of her “passion projects.”

Indeed, Doni is a woman of many passions. I was familiar with Girls Guide to Paris for a while although I came to know Doni from Susan Viebrock, a connection here in Telluride that does her own information-packed website/blog, Telluride Inside…and Out. Susan wrote a story that showcased Doni’s philanthropic works in the post TAB Welcomes Honorary Beneficiary:  Ubuntu Africa. TAB, or Telluride Aids Benefit, is an organization that raises money for HIV/AIDS education, advocacy and NGOs. They put on many fun and happening events throughout Telluride Gay Ski Week. This year, Doni’s organization, Ubuntu Africa, was one of the beneficiaries from funds raised by TAB. Doni actually came to T-ride, my town, for the events, yet unfortunately we did not meet up in person. (She actually found out about TAB from Kittie Lingeman Brown, a former resident of Telluride that now lives in Paris.) Doni talks about that experience and her impressions of Telluride—particularly the fabulous TAB Fashion Show—in the below interview.

Paris Garden

French Cheese

Ahhhh, La Vie Parisienne

Back to Paris and specifically Girls Guide to Paris. With 100,000 readers/month consulting her site, Doni has good reason to be proud of the baby that she breathed life into in 2009. On the phone from New York, Doni talks about why she likes Paris so much and how she started this site which has turned into a fantastic resource for Paris and beyond. Doni spends about a third of her time in Paris every year, however, like many other people, she’s aiming to claim Paris home more and more.

“Paris is my first love,” Doni says. “To sum it up in one word, it’s beauty. You can’t convince me that there’s another place so beautiful,” she continues. Our interview turns into a full-on chat when I share my impressions of Paris as well. After having lived there eleven years, I have a few things to add and not surprisingly, Doni and I agree on everything.

Listen to Doni highlight the various features of Girls Guide to Paris, including her top Paris restaurant picks and the eighteen downloadable tours, most of which she created. You’ll also want to check out their Travel Club and the fixed pages that make the site like a guidebook on the web. Plans are in the works for an eBook and an eMagazine.

It seems as though there’s no end to Doni’s passionate projects! Bravo to you, my dear, and keep up the good work all over the world.

Note that in the interview, Doni cites Segway tours as a fun way to visit Paris. Read my story, Tour Mania Versus Zee Segway, on the Paris Segway Tours here.

Click on the play button below to hear Doni Belau talk about Girls Guide to Paris.

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