We were on our way to see a garden, specifically the Andre Citroen Parc and garden, it has really good plantings and extraordinary outdoor sculpture on one of the old factory plant sites for the Citroen automobile company. We had just come around on the tram and it was an overcast day so not too hot, ideal for seeing this park. We walked down the street on our way to the park, when there it was! A Guinguette! Guinguettes were rural wine and beer gardens where Parisians of the late 19th century would go on a day out of Paris. They served as the backdrop for many of the outdoor dancing and party paintings of the Impressionists, such as Renoir and Caillebotte. So I was very animated in my desire to go to this one, especially as we hadn't had any lunch.
This modern version sits right on the banks of the Seine, just as the originals had, and has a little shack/bar that serves wine and beer as well as soft drinks and cider. Each day food is provided by an up and coming phenomenon in Paris, food trucks. They have a schedule of sorts and each day a couple trucks set up and serve food which is consumed at outdoor tables quai side. They also have a stage where music is performed in the evenings. We never made it to the park.
Todays trucks were serving burgers and seafood and after looking at the chalkboard menus we opted for the seafood. They are called Lobster and Company, it is run by a Breton by the name of Stephane and his Russian wife (who unfortunately remains unnamed) and today we Scored! Deb had a crab and crevette rollup and I had a lobster sandwich in a baguette, both were so good that we had an additional shared lobster rollup as a second course. Along with that a small carafe of rose wine from the Loire and we dined like royalty. It was so relaxing that we purchased another carafe of wine and spent the next couple hours in deck chairs just watching the river go by.
But since Deb is helping our nephew, Marshall, with his chemistry class we had to pull up stakes and make for home in order to make the Skype connection. This will not be the last time we go to the guinguette, I guarantee.
We were on our way to see a garden, specifically the Andre Citroen Parc and garden, it has really good plantings and extraordinary outdoor sculpture on one of the old factory plant sites for the Citroen automobile company. We had just come around on the tram and it was an overcast day so not too hot, ideal for seeing this park. We walked down the street on our way to the park, when there it was! A Guinguette! Guinguettes were rural wine and beer gardens where Parisians of the late 19th century would go on a day out of Paris. They served as the backdrop for many of the outdoor dancing and party paintings of the Impressionists, such as Renoir and Caillebotte. So I was very animated in my desire to go to this one, especially as we hadn't had any lunch.
This modern version sits right on the banks of the Seine, just as the originals had, and has a little shack/bar that serves wine and beer as well as soft drinks and cider. Each day food is provided by an up and coming phenomenon in Paris, food trucks. They have a schedule of sorts and each day a couple trucks set up and serve food which is consumed at outdoor tables quai side. They also have a stage where music is performed in the evenings. We never made it to the park.
Todays trucks were serving burgers and seafood and after looking at the chalkboard menus we opted for the seafood. They are called Lobster and Company, it is run by a Breton by the name of Stephane and his Russian wife (who unfortunately remains unnamed) and today we Scored! Deb had a crab and crevette rollup and I had a lobster sandwich in a baguette, both were so good that we had an additional shared lobster rollup as a second course. Along with that a small carafe of rose wine from the Loire and we dined like royalty. It was so relaxing that we purchased another carafe of wine and spent the next couple hours in deck chairs just watching the river go by. 
But since Deb is helping our nephew, Marshall, with his chemistry class we had to pull up stakes and make for home in order to make the Skype connection. This will not be the last time we go to the guinguette, I guarantee.
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