Friday, June 12, 2009

Thousands of diners take over Place de la Concorde

This is my kind of party.

In true Parisian fashion, a group of almost 10,000 swells took over the place de la Concorde on Thursday evening at 9:30, in an annual event known simply as Le Diner blanc, reports Le Parisien.

Clad elegantly in all-white, the crowd assembled at the last minute (the place being revealed by text message), set up tables and chairs, sipped champagne, and feasted on their impromptu picnics, all without interrupting traffic. And they cleaned up without leaving a trace.

Here is a clip from last year's Diner blanc on the Champs-Elysees.

10 comments:

Stephanie said...

Absolutely amazing. I even watched the video clip even thought I only understood about 6 words! Looks like my kind of party :)

The Duchess said...

How cool! And some of the outfits and hats...but then I can't imagine Parisians doing it any other way! Wonder who organizes it all, really.

Polly-Vous Francais said...

I guess the names of the organizers are top-secret. Otherwise the gendarmes would have to do something about it.

A French friend of mine did something similar for his wife's birthday: a surprise dinner party for 12, with long table and elegant chairs, candles, champagne, flowers, tablecloth, catered -- all brought under cover of darkness outdoors on Ile de la Cygne. Totally not legal, 100% fun. And what a view! I wasn't there, but heard great stories about it.

Chris said...

How fun is that!! Recently in Boston a group held a impromptu pillow fight. Everyone was sent a text with the location an hour before. Everyone arrived with pillows in their pajamas, and started a huge pillow fight

Starman said...

Every year in Miami, a White Party is held at Vizcaya (http://robertos.blogsome.com/2006/08/16/miami-en-el-tiempo/), le Diner Blanc always reminds me of that.

Fuzzy said...

Toulouse never has anything like this, I should move to Paris, but I don't like the weather too much. I miss large pagaent like events like this. Oh well, I'll make lemonade instead, France Tales

Sedulia said...

I saw them getting ready to go last year, groups of people in white all over the city, with their champagne! I really wished I'd stopped and gotten myself added to the party!

Alessandra said...

This looks so much like New Year´s Eve in Brazil! Well, except for the part of cleaning up and not messing the traffic.

The Sage said...

Wow! Gorgeous idea and a gorgeous setting. Wish I could have been there! I must admit, the French throw one helluva stylish flashmob. Tres magnifique!

Polly-Vous Francais said...

I read somewhere that the next day in Paris there was a "No-Pants" day. Eek. Not quite the same elegance!

Maybe this could be a tradition to start in the US as well, like Miami, but held in public in a surprise location.

(When I was in college, a group of us started an event called "You Can Dress 'Em Up but You Can't Take 'Em Out" in the cafteria. We got nicely dressed, brought in white tablecloths and candles and had a dinner party, with conversation, and NO trays. Made the institutional food almost palatable. Everyone else thought we we nuts!)

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