They were places for meeting friends and for literary and political discussion. Hurtaut and Magny wrote in their ‘’Dictionnaire de Paris’’ in 1779: "One gets the news there, either by conversation or by reading the newspapers. You don’t have to encounter anyone with bad morals, no loud persons, no soldiers, no domestics, no one who could trouble the tranquility of society."
According to Hurtaut and Magny in their 'Dictionnaire de Paris' from 1779, these places were for meeting friends and discussing literature and politics. They noted: "News can be obtained there through conversation or by reading newspapers. You won’t encounter anyone with bad morals, no loud people, no soldiers, no servants, and no one who could disturb social tranquility."