When you dream of Paris, do you think of eating chocolate croissants from a local patisserie, seeing jaw-dropping art at the Picasso museum or scaling the heights of the Eiffel Tower?

What about lesser-known Parisian delights such as an evening stroll over the Pont des Arts, dancing the night away at the former brothel-turned-nightclub, Le Baron, or a visit to the Turkish steam room in the La Mosquée de Paris?

Meet Doni Belau, a former Nebraskan-turned-Bedfordite with a love of all things French.

Don’t hate her because she used to have an apartment in Paris, has traveled extensively throughout France and now owns a home in Bordeaux. Visit her website, The Girl’s Guide to Paris, for an escape to Paris—either the temporary kind or to plan a a real escape—a trip guaranteed to take you off-the-beaten path.

Set aside some time for your first visit—it’s easy to get lost when you’re watching a video of one of the girls guide tours,  or reading about French organic markets and and how to socialize like a real Parisienne.

Here's our interview with Belau about why her site is a "great escape."

Bedford-Katonah Patch: Just how does a girl from Nebraska end up knowing enough about Paris to create over 2,000 pages of web content?

Belau: My parents encouraged me—my mother was a dance teacher and my father was a judge. They told me my job was to get out of Nebraska. I went to boarding school in St. Louis. I just became obsessed with Paris after so many trips there—my husband and I bought an apartment in the 6th Arrondissement and after about six years, my friends started to ask me about where to go and what to do. I started keeping a list, and did a bunch of girls’ trips there. I considered a book or writing articles, but eventually decided on a website. It took two years to put those 2,000 pages of content together!

Bedford-Katonah Patch: And how is the Girls Guide to Paris a great escape?

Belau: Women love France. Even if you’re not planning on going anytime soon, we have features like the top 5 books about Paris, favorite movies about Paris, and a feature on a “French look” of the week—from which you can buy the outfit. We have writers and bloggers who live in Paris and write about their finds; we have a great restaurant reviewer who writes about off-the-beaten path places and trends like how chefs are now opening up only small spots and serving one menu and all-natural wines.  Spending just a few minutes on the site is like a mini-trip to Paris but more economical.

Bedford-Katonah Patch: And if you do have the means, what’s different about the way you book trips, than say, Travelocity?

Belau: For one, the trips are targeted toward women. And I vet all my partners. I work with individuals like these two guys who started a cooking school in Monmartre. My apartment bookers are reliable. Where you stay is so critical to your enjoyment and we make it easy to find the right place. We’ve also done downloadable tours, a Pastry and Chocolate tour, for example, and made them into iPhone apps. The whole set is $16.98 for ten tours, and we’re adding more. This way you’re not carrying around a bulky guide book—you won’t look like a tourist, which is what you want in Paris.

Bedford-Katonah Patch: Can you share some “insider tips”?

Belau: Sure! Here’s one. By French law, stores have sales in January. If you want to buy authentic French goods, you can take advantage of steep discounts— 40-70 percent off. It’s also cheaper to go then. On the site we even give tips on how to manage the sales, which can get crowded. Also, if you go, rent an apartment. It’s so great to be with the girls, go out and get your croissant in the morning, and live like a Parisian.

Bedford-Katonah Patch: What does your favorite day in Paris look like?

Belau: I’d start by going to Hammam— it’s a huge craze, Turkish baths. Instead of a spa, they have many different rooms of steam and then cold dips, they scrub you down, and then you drink tea. I’d also go to Jacques Mart André Museum and have a lunch outside. It used to be someone’s house so it feels like you’ve gone out to the country for the day; it’s quite exceptional. Then I’d do some shopping on Rue Charlot in the upper Haut Marais, where you have original designers selling their things. It’s the second-oldest section of Paris, the old Jewish quarters and the architecture is exceptional. And a little place I love to visit is the Marché des Enfants Rouge, a covered outdoor market, that’s for eating, not shopping—I love the prepared food Japanese food and Moroccan sweets. The evening is so hard! It’s a tossup between Spring, run by an American, and Le Chateaubriand.

Bedford-Katonah Patch: What do you do when you’re not running the site or planning your next stay in Paris?

Belau: I also work with a young Bedford resident, Whitney Johnson, on a project called Ubutu Africa. We’ve fundraised and saved lives in Africa. The project provides an after- school program for 100 kids with AIDS in South Africa. These are children who live in such extreme poverty, they live 20 minutes from beach and have never seen beach. They come after school, have physical activities, get nutritional and health information, and soon will have access to a health care center.