on the banks of the Dordogne, dance from noon to midnight at the guinguette “La Plage”

On the banks of the Dordogne, the guinguette “La Plage” is emblematic. Here, dancing is serious business. After the last sweeps on the floor, it is the regulars who bring the final touch, “so that the floor slips”. We first take strength with the specialty of the beach, eel with parsley. The guinguette serves up to 15,000 covers per year. And that Sunday, it is still almost full house. Elegant outfits are a must. A group of friends meet here every week. “It’s a meeting place. There are men, there are women, then after the women with the men, all that dances together”confides an amateur.

From the first notes, everyone dances with their partner. The styles follow one another, but the atmosphere has not changed for 70 years. The guinguette arrived in the 1930s. From a very young age, Patrick wanted to take over the family business. He kept the codes of the traditional guinguette. “Tables with gingham tablecloths, lamps of all colors”, he describes. The recipe still works. “It’s good to morale. When we come home, we don’t think of anything. We don’t have to worry anymore, the old ones”, said a man. Patrick has now passed the business on to his son, Bertrand. At 72, he never stays far from his tavern.