Opening of the guinguette in Tours sur Loire as well as the other guinguettes in Touraine!

The word guinguette comes from the word “guinguet”, a white wine from the Ile-de-France region which, from what we can read, if it didn’t shine for its gustatory qualities (“Qui boit une pinte de vin de Montmartre en pisse quatre!” was heard in the estaminets), contributed cheerfully to the festive atmosphere that reigned in the bars, restaurants, bals musette and open-air cabarets. These establishments, which became “guinguettes“, were mostly located outside Paris, beyond the 57 octroi barriers introduced in 1785 by Louis XVI (octroi being an old indirect contribution claimed by certain towns, levied according to the value of goods imported into them).

A number of these guinguettes were thus established on the banks of the Seine and Marne (Joinville-le-Pont, Nogent-sur-Marne, Champigny-sur-Marne, Suresnes, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Nogent-sur-Seine…), combining terraces on the quayside and bands playing at dances, with the pleasures of canoeing, swimming and diving competitions, jousting and fishing, not forgetting fairground games, skittles and boules. In the 1960s/1970s, it was the ban on bathing in these waterways, due to poor water quality and a consequent number of drownings, that caused the decline of these convivial venues… before they made their great comeback in recent years as part of France’s festive heritage, following the example of the guinguette de Tours sur Loire!