Being there gave me the impression to be part of the city life. As a photographer, one is never really in the life, one is next to it, like being in a parallel world that one cannot touch. The purpose is nonetheless to record this world so that it appears real. Concentrated on seeing what is going on, I never really seem to participate. And here, I only had the impression to be included, because I was invited and it was kind of a strange crowd, so I felt part of it. But being included does not mean I mingled with everybody and exchanged cards. I felt isolated and non existent, although I may have been apparent to the eyes of the participants. But I saw the scene as if I was looking at a 19th century painting of a mundane salon gathering. And it made me think about the very difficult job of the set designers on period movies. How do the most talented ones manage to reconstruct bygone times so well ?