The château at night
Saturday night, D. and I got to do something we haven’t done in a while — get all dressed up and dance in a château that used to be the stomping grounds of people like Napoleon and Marie Antoinette.
Oh, wait, I’m being told now that we’ve actually never done that before.
It was INSEAD’s annual Summer Ball at the Château de Fontainebleau,the beautiful palace in the middle of town. The party got started at 10 p.m., and until about 4:30 a.m., all 1,600 ball-goers had as much champagne, cognac, wine, hors d’œuvres (by the way, no one calls them that here in France) and desserts as we could handle.
A group of friends et moi
I’ve been a member of the committee organizing the ball for a few months, so I was privy to a few interesting facts about the party: For example? They had more than 1,100 bottles of champagne for us there, and more than 36,000 pieces of food.
The big tent
The main part of the party was held in a giant tent in the middle of a courtyard facing a lake. Inside, there was a huge bar, the booths for the various DJs who entertained us throughout the night, as well as this guy who drummed and played the trumpet in accompaniment to the DJ’s songs – it was very cool.
The drummer - doesn't he look like D?
There was also a room upstairs in the chateau where the main student band played for about an hour. It was packed in there, as everyone wanted to see them, but it was fun.
Perhaps the most amazing room, however, was the salon de la grande cheminée, which was set up as a lounge with plenty of seating, so we could rest in it. This room is decorated in full-on château design – it’s beautiful!
The two of us in the fancy salon
Us with some of our "American" friends
The girls...
The Edge of the Forest 