The Dîner en Blanc (White Dinner) did not disappoint this year, with the Carrousel du Louvre as the top-secret location. Approximately 12,000 people descended on the museum courtyard just before 9:30pm. With the location unannounced until everyone had boarded buses from meeting points all over Paris, it was quite the scene on Rue de Rivoli just outside the Louvre. Like a step back into time, men and women dressed all in white with fancy accoutrements, carrying picnic tables and chairs and flowed into the courtyard en masse.
The dinner spread from the I.M Pei pyramid into the Tuileries Gardens. Propriety decreased not only with time, but also spatially–with a dance party breaking out in the Tuileries to 21st century music (gasp!) with people dancing on statues. Elsewhere, seven brass bands performed with aplomb and dressed for the occasion. Sparklers were lit in conjunction with the 11pm Eiffel Tower lighting and a song was sung for France’s loss against Mexico in the World Cup. Celebrities and socialites hobnobbed, the young sat juxtaposed against the older generation and at the end of the night, the police smiled and assisted pedestrian crossings. This ain’t no NYPD. Enjoy the images below!
All photos by Michelle Young & Augustin Pasquet
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Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.
