At the heart of biscuits
In the Marne, the Fossier house
In Reims, there is the cathedral, the champagne… and the dapper pink biscuits from the Fossier house! Easily recognizable by their delicate color, their powdered face with icing sugar and their crunchy texture, they reveal their secrets during a three-step visit to the heart of the factory founded in 1756. What makes it the oldest biscuit factory of France still in activity.
Visit and tasting
As an appetizer, a film tells the saga of the brand. Then, a deliciously simmered journey through the menu details the stages in the making of these hand-wrapped sweets. Their color? It comes from carmine, a natural red dye obtained from an insect, the cochineal. Along the way, a tasting allows you to go from theory to practice, and thus to verify on the piece the taste advantages of the original double cooking (hence the word biscuit, that is to say “twice cooked”) . It was she who, one day in 1775, delighted the royal palace of Louis XVI, who had come to be crowned on the lands of the Marne. Today, the family SME has something to see the future in pink …
Practical information
- Visits only by reservation.
- Adult prices: € 5.50, children (up to 18): € 3.50.
- Reservations by email fossier @ fossier.fr, by phone: 03 26 40 67 67. or on the fossier.fr website
In the Sarthe, a long tradition
In Sablé-sur-Sarthe, the very first shortbreads delighted the Marquise de Sévigné in the 17th century. Their production can be discovered today at the Sablésienne, a biscuit factory born 57 years ago. The icing on the cake: in addition to this guided tour, there is a visit to the brand new biscuit and shortbread museum. On the program, a multi-sensory discovery to familiarize yourself with the history of this round cookie.
Practical information
By reservation from June to September. [email protected], or 02 43 95 04 53. Adults: € 3. Children: € 2. sablesienne.com
In Finistère, all the art of Pont-Aven
The production of these fine and crispy pancakes respects the tradition initiated in 1890 by its creator, Isidore Penven, from a family of bakers: the shortbread, rich in butter, still takes shape by hand in this small town in Finistère.
Practical information
Free visit by reservation only Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. 02 98 06 05 87. galettes-penven.com
Chewable chocolate shops
In the Bouches-du-Rhône, the Puyricard chocolate factory
More than fifty years ago, in 1967, the Belgians Marie-Anne and Jean-Guy Roelandts closed their chocolate factory and left the Congo. Direction the south of France, where they set up a workshop. They baptized it Puyricard, in homage to the village near Aix-en-Provence in which they put their bags of cocoa. The sweet and family adventure continues today with their son Tanguy and their granddaughter Solène, who have decided to open up their manufacturing site. Here, 140 tons of chocolate candies are produced each year, in an artisanal way.
From bean to tablet
During the visit, all stages of production (molding, coating, smoothing, etc.) are delivered to the appetite of visitors fond of cocoa. No machine, nothing frozen. The molds are filled by hand. The fillings made from natural products… Nothing surprising for this house named Living Heritage Company in 2010, which carries the name of this small French town high and far.
Practical information
- Visits from January to October, accessible only to those over 1.20 meters. Duration: 1 h 30 to 2 h.
- Price: around € 10.
- Reservation: puyricard.fr
In the Drôme with Valrhona
The Cité du Chocolat Valrhona invites you to an exceptional moment of indulgence, to the place where founder Alberic Guironnet had set up his production there more than ninety years ago. It is mouth watering with its educational and fun activities, workshops, tastings …
Practical information
Visits by reservation only. Duration: 1 h 30 to 2 h. Adults: from € 9; children (up to 13 years old): from € 7. citeduchocolat.com
In the Eure, in Michel Cluizel’s Chocolatrium
Head for Michel Cluizel’s Chocolatrium, installed in Damville since 1948. On the menu for the visit: observation of the production and commented tasting.
Practical information
Reservation by phone on 02 32 35 20 75. Adults: € 6.50; children: € 4 (free for children under 6). cluizel.com
In Aquitaine, in the Chocolate Workshop
The educational journey begins with the Mayas and the Aztecs, and continues in the Basque Country, where the first cocoa processing workshops opened in the 17th century. We finish alongside the artisans in the process of making bites, a selection of which is delicious.
Practical information
1 hour 30 minutes tour. Adults: € 6, children: € 3. atelierduchocolat.fr
The crystal works are breathtaking!
In Moselle, the Saint-Louis factory
The year 1767 is a date that sounds like sweet music to the ears of the craftsmen of Saint-Louis. The oldest crystal factory in Europe, installed in the Northern Vosges since 1586, then became “Royal Glass” by decision of Louis XV. The king thus saluted the factory which had succeeded in taming sand and fire. Today, it perpetuates its know-how in front of witnesses, the time of a journey of discovery.
A panoramic view
From a walkway overhanging the molten furnaces at 1,450 ° C, visitors, accompanied by a guide, watch the crystal castings and the ballet of the master glassmakers. After the “hot workshop”, this noble part of the house where the glass service for the table was invented, they stop in front of the paperweights and can follow the restoration of the molds. Then, they reach the finishing workshops, where vases, chandeliers and candelabras are engraved, cut, decorated with gold and polished according to ancestral gestures. At the museum, they discover the ancient pieces of the crystal factory and the four centuries of history of this royal manufacture, a subsidiary of the Hermès group since 1995. And, perhaps, they unravel some manufacturing mysteries …
Practical information
- Guided tour of 1 hour 30 minutes, by reservation, with access to the Saint-Louis crystal museum.
- Prices: adults: € 18, children (6-18 years): € 11.
- Reservation: 03 87 06 40 04; or saint-louis.com
In Pas-de-Calais, Arc, from A to Z
The site of the glassmaker Arc, which was at the origin of the first decorated glasses and of the Cristal d’Arques brand, launched in 1968, is revealed in many facets. To see: the production workshops, films on the history and operation of the small factory in the North, born in 1825 and since then become an international group …
Practical information
On reservation. Adults: € 12.90, children (8-18 years old): € 9.90. visitverreriearc.com
In the Bas-Rhin, Lalique’s know-how
The René Lalique crystal factory, founded in 1920 in Wingen-sur-Moder, opened its museum in 2011. In addition to the 650 pieces presented, animations explain the know-how of the house and its creator, as well as the manufacture, in particular that of the famous Bacchantes vase, from 1927.
Practical information
Closed in January. Adults: € 6, children (6-18 years): € 3. musee-lalique.com
Porcelain in all its glory
In Haute-Vienne, the Bernardaud house
The visit of the old workshops of the venerable establishment reveals table services, lighting, jewelry, furniture … For an hour, the history of porcelain and its manufacture in the famous company take shape. She settled in Limoges because, in the 18th century, deposits of kaolin were discovered in the surroundings, clay essential to this white ceramic until then imported from China. Another advantage of this visit is the possibility of trying out certain tools. We come out amazed.
The art and the material of taking charge of your future
Each year, the house is enriched with new works for a temporary exhibition. From June until the end of October, one will discover with curiosity the committed ceramics of twelve artists, united under the name of “Equivocal Beauties”. Those who shaped them divert the material in order to question the public, to question its conscience on the major problems of the world (migration, environment, etc.). A great opportunity for artists to take a stand, in their own way.
Practical information
- 1h15 tour.
- Prices: adults (from 18 years old): 6 €. Free for children under 18.
- Reservation: by appointment on 05 55 10 21 86. bernardaud. com / fr / tour-circuit
In Île-de-France, Sèvres, all in color
The activity of the famous Sèvres manufactory is portrayed to the public, from the manufacture of pasta to the various stages carried out in each of its workshops.
Practical information
Guided tour of 1.5 hours, by reservation. € 18 per person. sevresciteceramique.fr
In the Cher, in the blink of an eye
Pillivuyt porcelains have been making the best of Mehun-sur-Yèvre since 1818. Visit with the tourist office by reservation (from 4 people).
Practical information
Price: 5 €. 02 48 57 35 51. bourgesberrytourisme.com
Read also :
⋙ Made in France: these products that are successful abroad
⋙ Regional recipes: 18 gourmet specialties to (re) discover