A whirlwind trip to Paris rounds off the 2025 Expos

It was a fairly last-minute decision to attend ADF this year, but with so many suppliers only a short journey away, it felt a shame not to go. Besides, the Congress always has that lovely “end-of-term” feel — for many manufacturers it’s the final major dental exhibition of the year, and there’s a relaxed buzz that comes with that.

A Festive Start in La Défense

We arrived early Wednesday evening and were delighted to discover a Christmas market right on our doorstep in the La Défense area of Paris. Naturally, we wandered straight in and made our way toward the food stalls. Raclette has become something of a tradition for us on ADF trips, and it didn’t disappoint!

Diving Into Meetings at the Congress Centre

Thursday morning we headed to the congress centre for a full schedule of meetings. First up was Mike at Bisco, where we were introduced to our new contact, Sam. Then we met with Flemming — now in his new role at Pulpdent, which felt wonderfully full circle given that Pulpdent was Prestige’s very first agency back in the day.

After that, we made quick but friendly stops to greet Andreas at NTI and Patricia at Parkell. Then it was off to Generique, who (as always) spoiled us with a glass of champagne. With our meetings wrapped up, we squeezed in a little time to wander the exhibition halls in search of anything new or exciting.

An Evening in Paris

Once the exhibition closed, we made our way to The Intercontinental for an early drink with Flemming and his wife. This part of the trip was definitely more social than work — a lovely chance to enjoy their company before they headed off to dinner. And since we found ourselves in the Opéra area, it would have been rude not to visit Galleries Lafayette. The annual Christmas tree was as spectacular as ever, and we couldn’t resist heading up to the rooftop terrace for what turned out to be our only glimpse of the Eiffel Tower this trip.

A Rainy Goodbye

Thursday came around far too quickly, and it was already time to head home. But not before honouring my one request of the trip: a stop at Notre-Dame. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans — it was raining cats and dogs — so we didn’t linger long. Still, it was wonderful to see the incredible progress being made on the restoration.