HAVE YOU EVER DINED IN THE NUDE?

HAVE YOU EVER DINED IN THE NUDE?

I don’t know about you, but I was only mildly surprised when I read that the first nudist restaurant in Paris is set to close after just over a year of serving classic French dishes to diners in the buff. The O'Naturel will close soon for financial reasons. After opening in 2017 to great fanfare, the restaurant received rave reviews from customers with an average score of 4.8 out of 5. Many customers praised both the food and the unique experience after enjoying a naked meal, shielded from passersby by a thick white curtain.

My interest in the restaurant was probably best captured by a noted French food critic who said, "Great restaurant, futuristic in the audacity of its naturism, promoting the beautiful values of naturism, tolerance and non judgment, living together, all together, as we are, and in osmosis with nature, all natural.” I don’t have the slightest idea of what the hell that means, but I believe that it is high praise - for something!

Diners at O'Naturel remove their clothes in a cloakroom, where they also leave their mobile phones for privacy reasons. And while those eating may be naked, the owners are fully clothed as they serve the food.

My mind continues to spin as I try to develop reasons why I would want to eat at a restaurant with strangers and friends while only wearing my birthday suit. Do you have to be an exhibitionist, or a voyeur or a pervert on the prowl? I keep wondering if your butt would stick to the chair and how would you respond if you dropped a hot hors d’oeuvre into your lap. Would you ever make eye contact with any of the other diners or would you eyes be downcast for the entire evening? I certainly have  more questions than answers. 

And nude dining isn’t the only activity that has been promoted by the French. A designated nudist zone was launched in the Bois de Vincennes park in 2017 with the aim of attracting some of the estimated 2.6 million nudists in France. Last year, contemporary art gallery Palais de Tokyo opened its doors to naturists for an afternoon of art, uncovered. Then in June, the city's Nudists Association hosted a giant picnic for naturists. 

I don’t think that the nudist activities or the promotion of naturism would flourish in Canada, especially in the winter months. I have trouble visualizing the family enjoying an afternoon skating in the park or tobogganing down a hill in the nude even if they were allowed to wear mittens and a toque! Their noses would freeze!