Dinner En Blanc San Diego 2012

Last night was fabulous! 

We had so much fun attending Dinner En Blanc San Diego.

For those of you that don't know what Dinner En Blanc is, let me give you a little taste!

"At the last minute, the location of the secret supper club is given to thousands of friends and acquaintances who have been patiently waiting to learn the “Dîner en Blanc's” secret place. Thousand of people, dressed all in white, and conducting themselves with the greatest decorum, elegance, and etiquette, all meet for a mass “chic picnic” in a public space.

 

Over the course of an evening, the diners enhance the function and value of their city's public space by participating in the unexpected.

Beyond the spectacle and refined elegance of the dinner itself, guests are brought together from diverse backgrounds by a love of beauty and good taste.

Le Dîner en Blanc recalls the elegance and glamour of court society, and diners engage one another knowing they are taking part in a truly magical event.

There are no disruptions: no car traffic, no pedestrian traffic, except for the occasional amazed and astonished looks from passersby at the scene unfolding before them. And we, as they, wonder whether it's all not a dream…

Born 24 years ago in Paris...

Launched with just a handful of friends by François Pasquier over 20 years ago, Paris' Dîner en Blanc now assembles nearly 15,000 people each year. The French capital's most prestigious sites have played host to it: the Pont des Arts, the Eiffel Tower site, the Louvre Pyramid, the Trocadéro Esplanade, Place Vendôme, the Château de Versailles, the Esplanade de Notre-Dame, the Esplanade des Invalides, the periphery of the Place de l'Étoile, the Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde and last year: The Carousel du Louvre. The Paris police tend to tolerate this ‘wild' gathering, if not perhaps even wishing they could join in!"

 

So here was our experience:

First you meet up at several different pick-up spots. You get on a big bus and they bus you to the secret location. You are not told the location until the bus starts moving. Don't be late, or the bus will leave without you! One thing I noticed was they disabled any comments on their facebook page. I guess to keep it secret! Here is my hubby and I on the bus excited to be headed there! 

Next you show up at the secret location, ours was harbor island memorial park, right on the bay. Where over 1,000 people all dressed in white flash mob the area with picnic baskets, tables chairs, center pieces, candles etc. The park is empty when you arrive, and you leave it empty and cleaner than it was when you got there. Within a matter of minutes it goes from an empty location to this:

You quickly set up your table. Here is what ours looked like:

You bring your own tables, chars, linens, dishes, food, silverware, wine, water, candles etc.. Or you can purchase a picnic basket that is ready for you. I highly recommend bringing your own food. You can also rent tables and chairs if you don't want to haul them. 

After you set up, the wine is opened and you begin dining. Here was Randy's plate. Sorry it is washed out. I didn't get a good picture.

We had fabulous live music while we ate. Jason Mraz style. 

At the end of dinner, everyone waves their white napkins to celebrate that the party is going to get started!

Then the DJ begins and you dance the night away with thousands of others!

We had fun meeting new friends!

Towards the end of the evening everyone lights a candle that is provided by the event staff. My picture doesn't do it justice, but it was like thousands of stars. So pretty!

We had fun being treated like celebrities!

The bus ride home, everyone was happy. I didn't hear a single complaint. All I heard was "That was such a blast!" If you ever hear of Dinner En Blanc coming to your area, get on that wait list!!!

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Don't forget you can order my cookbook HERE!