Montelimar

Montelimar has made nougat since the seventeenth century, when almond trees were planted around the town, and the local standard is specific: at least thirty per cent almonds, or twenty-eight per cent almonds with two per cent pistachios, and at least twenty-five per cent honey in the sweetening, whipped with egg white over heat and pressed between sheets of wafer. Several makers run visits showing the copper cauldrons and the cutting, and a museum covers the trade. The town sits on the old Route Nationale 7, which is why generations of French holidaymakers driving south stopped here, and the nougat shops line that road still.

History

The site of Montélimar has been inhabited since Celtic times, and the Romans rebuilt the town with a basilica, aqueducts, baths and a forum. In the Middle Ages it was ruled by the Adhémar family, whose castle, the Château des Adhémar, still dominates the skyline, and the Hôtel de Ville opened in 1876 (Wikipedia, Montélimar).

What's there

• The working nougateries - copper pans, whisking and cutting demonstrated.
• The nougat museum - the trade's history and the recipe rules.
• The Route Nationale 7 shops - the strip that fed holiday traffic south.
• The Chateau des Adhemar - a Romanesque castle above the town.

When to go

Year-round; factory visits are more frequent on weekdays and reduce in August when some makers close. The town is a stop rather than a destination.

Good to know

The town itself is unremarkable and the appeal is the product. Factory visits vary in quality and some are essentially shop tours. The motorway now bypasses the old road entirely.

Nearby

Grignan lies southeast; Valence is north.

Key facts