Empire Ball at Château de Maisons

A Sunday-afternoon Empire ball held in the grande salle de bal of the chateau de Maisons, the Francois Mansart masterpiece at Maisons-Laffitte, twenty minutes north-west of Paris. From 14:30 to 17:30 the public is invited to learn the dances of the Second Empire - quadrilles, waltzes and polkas - in an open, all-ages initiation led by costumed dancers, recreating the atmosphere of the grand receptions once held in aristocratic houses. Period dress is part of the spectacle, and the setting is a Centre des monuments nationaux property whose ballroom is among the finest of the Grand Siecle.