NOTES:

With the advent of the railway, Parisians could readily escape the confines of the city to the al fresco guinguettes of the suburbs. Most commonly found beside the country’s waterways, these hostelries offered food, drink and lively music.  Guesquin built his dream guinguette in a grove of trees, constructing three shady, rose-festooned pavilions in the branches of a 200-year-old chestnut in the rue de Malabry.     In these treehouses, the customers were able to enjoy a romantic meal of roast chicken and champagne, hoisted aloft by means of ropes and pulleys.

Guesquin first named the restaurant The Grand Robinson. However, his idea was so successful he soon had to rename it the Vrai Arbre de Robinson (True Tree of Robinson) because competitors found other giant chestnuts in which to build their bistros. At its height, there were more than ten taverns with more than 200 gazebos in the trees of Plessis.

Donkeys brought merry-makers from the station, and miniature train tracks reached up into the treetop canopies where customers could dine. There was wine and song as people danced to the tunes of musicians in the shady bowers below; young women on swings practised their best Fragonard poses.
The village became such a popular Sunday destination that in 1909, the district was officially renamed Plessis-Robinson.