PARIS (AFP).- A leading Paris gallery has thrown prudishness to the winds by announcing it will welcome nudist visitors in May.

The Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art centre situated across the Seine river from the Eiffel Tower, has teamed up with the Paris Naturists' Association to organise a free tour on May 5.

The guided tour will take place in the morning before the centre opens to the general public.

"When the doors open the Palais will be clothed again," Dolores Gonzales, the gallery's spokeswoman told AFP on Friday, adding that the event aimed to showcase the centre's "openness".

The places were snapped up in under two days, revealing the growing appetite for naturism in the French capital.

Last year, Parisian nudists got their own designated patch in the Bois de Vincennes park as well as their own restaurant, named O'naturel.


© Agence France-Presse