Tuesday 26 June: some 2,500 guests admired a Hall of Mirrors now entirely restored thanks to VINCI's skills-based sponsorship operation.

The inauguration of the restored Hall of Mirrors, an event in three stages marking the end of a quite exceptional sponsorship project, went off most successfully on Monday and Tuesday 25-26 June.






On Monday 25 June, following speeches by Mr Jean-Jacques Aillagon, President of the Etablissement Public de Versailles, and Mr Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Chairman of VINCI, 150 journalists had an opportunity to inspect a Hall of Mirrors now entirely restored after a 3-year programme of sensitive restoration works completed absolutely on schedule.

That evening, there was a gala dinner in the Hall of Mirrors. Among the 180 guests welcomed by Mr Jean-Jacques Aillagon and Mr Yves-Thibault de Silguy were Mrs Christine Albanel, French Minister of Culture and Communication, and Mr Eric Woerth, French Minister responsible for the Budget, as well as numerous prominent media figures such as Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet and Claudia Cardinale.

On Tuesday 26 June, a gala evening was staged at the Château of Versailles to celebrate the completion of this first comprehensive restoration of the Hall of Mirrors. Some 2,500 guests admired the paintings by Le Brun and the décor designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, now entirely restored, and magnificently lit by VINCI Energies subsidiary Sdel Artec. The evening ended with a firework display which the guests watched from the gardens of the Château.

This inauguration of the restoration of the Hall of Mirrors marks the end of an innovative partnership between a public institution and a private sector company. Entirely funded by VINCI, the project was undertaken within the framework of a skills-based sponsorship arrangement in which the Group acted as client: an innovation in France that opens up new horizons for corporate sponsorship.