Aug 26, 2011
Fab Fridays: Doni Belau of A Girls' Guide to Paris
Each Friday Simplifying Fabulous! presents Fab Fridays, an up-close-and-personal look at how one of our community members simplifies fabulous in their own life. Is there someone you'd like to see featured? Email your submission to info@simplifyingfabulous.com.
ABOUT Doni Belau is the founder of Girls' Guide to Paris, a virtual guide book to the City of Lights. A true Francophile at heart, Doni combs through every guidebook written about Paris, scours every blog and travel magazine and spends countless hours hunting down and experiencing the newest restaurants and shops in Paris. When she is not writing about Paris, she is counting the minutes until her next trip. Before travel overtook her life, Doni worked in the not-for-profit and political arena, raised kids and produced television commercials.
Editor's Note: Doni is currently helping me plan a trip to Paris with my teenage daughter and is recommending the most fabulous things! We'll be taking a segway tour of the city, wandering through the streets on a chocolatier and patisserie tour, whipping up French confections at a private mother/daughter cooking class, and...le piece de resistance...we'll be mixing our own custom-made perfume at a perfumerie in Paris! Merci Doni!! Tu est merveilleux!
Robin Baron: What inspired you to create Girl’s Guide to Paris?
Doni Belau: Well that's a bit of a story. I was in politics and not-for-profit work, but Paris was my love, my passion. My husband and I had a place there in the 6th arrondisement for six years and I was always doing trips en famille, solo and with the girls and decided it was time to pursue what I truly loved. First, I thought of doing a book about Paris and then it evolved into a website. It took a lot longer and was much more complex than I originally thought it would be, but it has been such fun, particularly because of the incredible people I've met.
The Christian Liagre coffee table now resides in Doni's Westchester Home
The lovely kitchen in Doni's Westchester home
RB: What do you love most about your home and why?
DB: My garden. I love to walk outside on a stressful day or just in the morning to see what is blooming. And if I'm particularly overwhelmed a walk through the zen garden makes me feel much more calm. In France, I'd also say my garden–but in particular the view of the Dordogne River.
Dordogne River, Bordeaux
The gardens at Doni's Bordeaux home
Simplifying Fabulous! with Doni Belau of Girls' Guide to Paris






Editors Note: Although Doni doesn't mention the interiors of her Bordeaux home, she shared them with us and we think they're absolutely fabulous, don't you think!?
Leave a comment