Salon du bébé ("baby" dance hall)

Latitude (N) : 50.403417 | Longitude (E) : 3.83854
 
The place known as “salon du bébé” (“baby hall”) is actually a former dance hall where the Protestant community would regularly hold meetings.
 
The name “salon du bébé” has its roots in an old folkloric game in which the inhabitants of Wasmes had to explore the woods, in search of a baby that had been hidden. Once he had been found, the party would proceed to the dance hall in Rue du Bois. Vincent van Gogh preached there several times. 
 
Nowadays, the dance hall doesn’t exist in its original form anymore. It has since then been divided into 2 traditional workers’ houses. They remind us of van Gogh’s interest for Miners’ houses, as those found in his works “Maison Magros” and “Maison Zandmennik”. These “people’s nests”, as he called them, form a central pattern in his works.

 
Salon du Bébé (propriété privée)
Rue du Bois, 257
7340 Wasmes (Colfontaine)