And just what is a Guinguette, anyway? Historically, it was a place to go for fun and to drink cheap wine, being just outside the tax man's boundary of Paris. "Today, the term 'guinguette' is still used for a waterside refreshment stand, particularly open-air, all over France."
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| Guinguette - you can just see the Loire river in the distance |
For us it was a pleasant and relaxing place for a late lunch. Although we didn't stay for it, there was dancing in the evening.
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| My lunch - Spider Pork!?!? Well, it did sort of resemble a spider... |
That was how our day ended! But it *started* with a fantastic wine tasting at Blanc Foussy in Rochecorbon (just outside of Tours). We started with the sparkling, then the still whites. We thought we were done!
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| Took home the three pushed forward |
We had a very interesting discussion about Cabernet Franc, and how it's treated differently in the Loire Valley than in California. Here, they don't leave it with the skins as long, so it's a lighter flavor that the bold, long-aging version of California.
After our tasting, we aimed for a Guinguette in Tours. Well, we had some issues... We finally got to this parking lot, along the Loire river - it was beautiful and tranquil, but we saw no sign of an open Guinguette.
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| Wilson bridge |
We could have had our lunch on a bench (we had our cooler, full of generic picnic food), but we both thought of the Guinguette we had passed on our way to the winery! Off we went!
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See all the photos in the Loire Valley 2023 album.
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