La table des voyageurs : Bhutan and the pursuit of happiness

Four to six times a year, La table des voyageurs invites members to explore the world through the eyes of those who travel around it. This edition welcomes Sabine Verhest, reporter for La Libre Belgique, and turns to Bhutan, a small Himalayan kingdom located between India and China, where economics, spirituality and geopolitics are unusually entangled.

For the past twenty years, Sabine Verhest has reported from the Himalayas, visiting Bhutan regularly. Her work explores the country’s unique journey: a Buddhist monarchy becoming a parliamentary democracy, a political focus on Gross National Happiness, the creation of Gelephu Mindfulness City, and efforts to grow the economy while tackling challenges like debt and youth unemployment.

Drawing on years of fieldwork and personal experience, this lunch offers a rare, grounded look at a country that resists simple labels. The conversation, moderated by journalist and travel designer, Caroline Chapeaux, will explore what happens when a nation measures progress by happiness, not just growth.