The Paris Dîner en Blanc remains one of the most exclusive pop-up dinners in the world but it’s getting bigger and bigger by the year. In two simultaneous locations since 2011, this year it was reduced to one for 10,000 people–the Palais Royal–but we received confirmation from an official Dîner en Blanc organizer that a second rogue dinner was started unofficially by a group that was removed from last year’s dinner on the Pont Alexander III due to bad behavior. Waste left behind by that group was documented by locals and the Paris press. As for the official location, the Palais Royal recently underwent a renovation (and is home to the fun Colonnes des Buren art installation). The Louvre/Tuileries gardens had an official Dîner en Blanc there in 2010.
Photo by Thierry Stein courtesy of Diner en Blanc International
As the organizer tells Untapped Cities,”As much as i am all for the evolution of the Dîner en Blanc and the passing of the torch, it was founded on some very basic principles and we love it because we keep those traditions near and dear to us–this is also what allows us to keep having these events. At the end of the Palais Royal event, we went over every inch of the park to make sure it was clean.”
Photo by Valerie Lenata courtesy of Diner en Blanc International
For New Yorkers, we just received word that our version will indeed return again this year (we can’t say when yet, but stay tuned. For now, check out photos from last year). Below are more photos from today’s dinner in Paris:
Here’s a look back to previous locations of the Paris. Take a look at more photos from when it was at Trocadero, overlooking the Eiffel Tower and check out the documentary about the dinner that we were part of.
