Oh what a night!

When you’re five years old, the anticipation on Christmas Eve can be overwhelming. It’s hard to contain the excitement knowing that the following day, you’ll wake to a surprise that will thrill you to bits.

The eve before last Thursday’s pop up dinner in Paris, the annual Diner en Blanc and I felt like that child, waiting to open a gift, a surprise that was guarded in the deepest secrecy. An invitation only event, I was thrilled to be asked along to join in the mystery. The only details provided had been to indicate a meeting place with very specific instructions for time, boarding and departure. Dress code was elegant and white; must be white. No further indication would be given until en route.

Thursday evening at 9pm and we finally arrived at the moment where the gift wrapping is torn off.  Making our way through Paris traffic, passing busloads of fellow diners, their curtains drawn to veil the niveous assault, we started to learn of our destination and some of the details: 6,500 people would be arriving, the majority by bus, all closely guarding their secret.

Laughter flowed through the seats and down the aisle as the excitement swelled, knowing we’d soon be at our point of debarquement. The bus would be emptied of tables, chairs, picnics and passengers in the space of six minutes. Approaching nearer, the footpaths along the Seine became the colour of snow with those pulling their picnic fair to meet at the gates.

And then we were there. And the Cour Carrée du Louvre filled with a sea of blanc, becoming an instant dining room surrounded by hundreds of years of history. Tables were set, flowers arranged, candles lit and by 9.36pm on the dot, the champagne flowed.

Music struck up in each quadrant. From tango, to musique becoming of Edith Piaf’s era, to the big brass band in our corner, toe tapping, skirt twirling dancing took over, and the scene was nothing short of stunning, not only visually but in ambiance as well. It was an evening of striking proportions. The crowd that came together, laughing, dining and dancing, filled the carré with a sense of warmth, a unity against the unseasonable chill of a June evening.  The friendship, laughter, cooperation, precision, and perfection at which everything was carried out was a beautiful experience to behold.

What started out as a chic picnic amongst friends twenty three years ago is now an annual event in Paris, Montreal, Quebec, Hamburg, and the soon to be Diner en Blanc in New York. Since the very first gathering of friends was arranged in the Bois de Boulogne, the picnic has grown in epic proportions. On that day back in June 1988 on the lawns of Bagatelle, the ‘blanc’ dress code was initiated. The men, many of them former naval officers, were accompanied by wives in wedding gowns.

Year after year, the concept grew with more friends partaking in the Bagatelle gathering until the dinner took the direction to what it has become today, and the first secret appearance on the Pont des Arts, Paris in 1992 had people talking about the mythical diner en blanc.

All these years later, François Pasquier should be proud of the legacy he started on the pelouse of Bagatelle, for it truly has become a remarkable event with an ambiance unlike any other.

It was, without doubt, sophistication at its finest.

*****

Footnote: This year two dinners were held, one in the Cour Carrée du Louvre, and a second with 4,500 diners at Notre Dame Cathedral. You can see photos on Flickr.