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BackThe Refreshment Room
L. Dumont, “La Buvette de la chambre des députés” (detail), Pointe-à-Callière, 2011.59.
Behind the Assembly chamber was the refreshment room, a key spot for informal discussions. A true parliamentary bar, it was where members took tea… or a drink, especially when debates dragged on. Some MPs gladly retreated there—so much so that when a deputy returned to the chamber looking visibly flushed, colleagues would tease him by mimicking the pop from a bottle being uncorked!
Refreshment Room at the National Assembly in Paris
L. Dumont, “La Buvette de la chambre des députés”, Pointe-à-Callière, 2011.59.
Illustration of the refreshment room of the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, a discreet place where alliances and coalitions were forged—and unravelled—out of sight.
Bottle
Guy Lessard, Pointe-à-Callière.
The video opens with a 360-degree view of a 3D model of a beige terracotta bottle, rotating on itself. The maker’s mark is engraved on the bottom of the bottle. The video stops after 10 seconds, offering a complete view of the beer bottle.
Stoneware bottle for ginger beer from the Parliament era.
Cups
René Bouchard, Pointe-à-Callière, City of Montréal archaeological collection.
These cups and this pitcher may have been part of the glassware used in the parliamentary refreshment room.