Guinguette
Forget the stiff cocktail receptions and bland hotel buffets. This is France, damn it—and we’re doing it right. The MicroCon EU Guinguette isn’t some awkward networking event with name tags and cheap pinot. It’s a full-on, old-school fête aboard the Constance, a boat with character, charm, and just enough wobble to remind you you’re alive. A floating guinguette, moored in the heart of Aigues-Mortes—where the canals hum with history and the air smells like salt, bread, and mischief.
Picture this: the sun setting over the medieval ramparts, glasses clinking with local wine—maybe even the fabled Princely cuvée—as someone strikes up a tune that makes your foot tap and your heart loosen. This isn’t about formalities or fanfare. It’s about camaraderie. Celebration. Sitting elbow to elbow with fellow misfits, dreamers, diplomats, and oddball royalty. It’s a nod to the past, a toast to the future, and a damn good excuse to dance under the stars. You’d be a fool to miss it.
About the Boat…
They call it the Princely Yacht, but don’t let the title fool you—this isn’t some sterile oligarch’s plaything. The Constance is a boat with soul, officially anointed in 2017 when Madame Noémie Albecq-Mégias handed the keys to Prince Jean-Pierre IV for the launch of the flamant—yes, that’s “flamingo” to you English speakers—the local currency that flaps in the face of convention. And as if the universe wanted in on the joke, a flock of real flamingos soared over the boat at the exact moment the currency was declared legit. You can’t script that kind of poetry.
Normally, the Constance is out doing tourist cruises and private soirées, but for MicroCon EU 2027, it becomes the beating heart of the opening night—a raucous river guinguette with one foot in tradition and the other kicking up dust. Expect Camargue charm by the boatload: a buffet of local tapas, dangerously good wine, even a splash of Princely Rosé Champagne. And the music? A real-deal Gipsy band from around Aigues-Mortes—same roots as the Gipsy Kings, minus the Spotify algorithm. It’s diplomacy, done barefoot with a glass in hand.
What is a guinguette?
A guinguette is where the French go when they want to forget the rules. Born along the rivers and canals in the days when absinthe was medicine and dancing was mandatory, a guinguette is part tavern, part dance hall, part fever dream. It’s where working folks escaped the grind, drank cheap wine, ate grilled fish or sausages off tin plates, and let loose to the sound of accordion or swing. It’s joy without pretense—laughter spilling onto the water, kisses stolen between songs. Think less Michelin star, more magic at golden hour with your butt in a boat and your heart wide open.