Guinguettes, the open-air dance halls of France's Belle Epoque immortalized by the Impressionists, "are finding new fans in a fast-paced modern world," writes Devorah Lauter in the LA Times."In their heyday, hundreds of guinguettes were perched along the banks of the slow rivers that loop through the Parisian countryside [..] They were magnets for young, working-class people who were drawn by the low prices, fresh air, cheery accordion music and hourglass-shaped women flirting in their Sunday best. Pierre Auguste Renoir famously painted one of his favorite guinguettes in Le Déjeûner des Canotiers."
Though in a more contemporary format, today's guinguettes attract crowds for the same, simple pleasures: dancing in good company, cheap fried fish meals on checkered table cloths, and a relaxed, cheerful setting rooted in quainter times. "It reminds us of the films, and our grandparents. It was another time then. A friendlier time," says a guinguette enthusiast.
photo Devorah Lauter/LAT
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