Viva le weekend! Insead is a large international business school that each year hosts an alumni ball at a chateau in the ancient forests of Fontainebleau. It's an amazing event. 11 of us (Organic and BT clients) got on the Eurostar on Friday afternoon with 12 bottles of champagne and hampers of food. Two hours later we had demolished the champagne and made a quite disruptive presence on the train. We arrived at Fontainebleau at 12.30am ready to continue the drinking only to find Fontainebleau shut down for the night. As our one French client said to the concierge "In the whole of France we must be the only people not drinking at this hour."



Saturday we had a private lunch for 20 at the 17th century Chateau de Bourron. I promptly got a sunburnt head (a theme for the weekend) enjoying the first real sun we'd seen in a very long time. After a nap, I donned the monkey suit, we met for more champagne (another theme for the weekend), and headed to the ball at the Chateau de Courrances.



The ball was themed the Silk Road, but was more Arabic in actuality. Lots of tents ot bellydancers and camels and champagne. There was a spectacular fireworks show set to music which flooded the valley in smoky, moody light, and a brilliant vodka and vibe lounge spinning Algerian-French lounge music. There is something just overwhelming about 2000 men in tuxedos, though as it was a business school they weren't the best looking crowd (lots of short men with leggy, bored blondes) and seven hours later we climbed on the busride through the dawn back to the hotel.



Sunday afternoon we visited the Chateau de Fontainebleau, by far the most impressive of the three chateaus, and wandered through the Napoleon rooms (it was in Fontainebleau that he gave up the Empire) and gardens. I continued getting sunburned and then napped in the afternoon heat. We gathered for one last boozy dinner with our client team who I like immensely even as they pressured us into joining them in the hotel room for a late night raid of the mini bar.



I love being in France. Everytime I'm there I resolve to study French and become fluent and it was a great pleasure to get to know another part of it. They really have the balance of life and pleasure well-defined. It's something I wish I was better at packing and bringing back to London.