Re-live history on the French Riviera: Le Bal des Courtisans is a newly-formed club on the French Riviera, offering themed events to create an atmosphere of the grandeur of France at various periods during its history. As an added interest, this includes dressing the part in period costume. It’s a great way for attendees to make new friends combined with the elegant ambiance of dress-up!
American Kim Defforge who set up the group has long loved France, especially the Château of Versailles where she sponsored the replanting of a tree in the Trianon garden following the damaging storm of 1999. As a long-time member of “Les Amis de Versailles” (Friends of Versailles) Kim helped support renovation and restoration works at the historic chateau. Her connections led her to attend several splendid 17th and 18th century costume events in the Paris area. Kim fell in love with the drama and theatre of these events and decided to offer similar social revelries for locals and visitors in the Nice area. Voila, says Kim “Le Bal des Courtisans was born!”.
The club’s first-year events are being fine-tuned for 2015 including La Belle Epoque (The Beautiful Era) and Les Années Folles (The Roaring 20’s). Although membership is not required to attend events, Kim’s goal is that with a growing list of members, the club will also increase the number and variety of annual events. Theme-related animations, as well as workshops will be on offer in the near future.
Kim has loads of advice about where to rent costumes and says the get-togethers will take place in and around Nice and all are welcome. This would certainly create a fabulous holiday memory with a difference and it’s a great opportunity for locals to have a lot of fun.
So, dress to the nines and strut your stuff in period costume to re-live history with Le Bal des Courtisans!
