Elégance Française The cream of Parisian society turned out for the 111th Paris Open, one of Europe’s oldest tournaments. Competition was fierce – and the hats were awesome
Madame Jean-Luc Chartier, Sophie de Charbonnière and Laurence de la Beraudière – and their hats. Below: Princess Nesrine Toussoun. Opposite: Prince Charles Emmanuel Bourbon Parme and his three daughters
or most months of the year, the well-manicured turf in front of the elegant clubhouse at Polo de Paris is used for practice in that other, younger stick and ball game, golf. In June and July, however, the club’s historic ground echoes to the thunder of hooves, the crack of stick on polo ball, and cries of ‘leave it’, ‘take your man’ and other, less printable phrases in a variety of languages. At tables under large white umbrellas on the clubhouse terraces, tout Paris – the crème
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de la crème of Parisian society – gather to sip champagne, engage in tittle-tattle and admire one another’s finery. A hard core of aficionados amongst the members and guests take time out to concentrate on the polo action out on the ground. Thus it has been since 1892 when the Viscount de la Rochefoucauld and the Duke de Doudeville first established a polo ground in a meadow known as Bagatelle in the Bois de Bologne. In the days of the belle époque, spectators arrived in fashionable carriages to watch
polo. Today, Polo de Paris is less than a 15 minute drive from the Champs Elyséé and minutes from the Longchamp racecourse between the park and the River Seine. This summer saw the club hold its 111th Paris Open, Europe’s third oldest tournament after England’s Inter-Regimental and County Cup. Indeed, the dozen teams entered in the 12-14 goal Open competed on the same ground where France played Argentina in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Most had just come down
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