Why has Montélimar nougat become so famous ?

First of all, we can't talk about Montélimar nougat without talking about Emile Loubet (1838-1929) yes, he's a local, born in Marsanne, a small village next to Montélimar. He was in chronological order: Mayor of Montélimar from 1870 to 1899, left-wing republican deputy from 1876 to 1885, senator of Drôme from 1885 to 1899, president of the senate from 1896 to 1899, minister 1887-1888 and 1892-1893 and supreme position president of the French Republic from 1899 to 1906. Emile Loubet was a president of appeasement and unity in a particular period of separation of Churches and State, but also of the Dreyfus affair. He will show unfailing diligence in promoting Montélimar nougat, and what an ambassador, he will offer each distinguished visitor, foreign or not, a gift of nougat! This incredible publicity will undoubtedly contribute to increasing the notoriety of Montélimar nougat and to the development of nougat factories. For the little anecdote, he put so much heart into his work advertising Montélimar nougat that the cartoonists of the time had a lot of fun with it!

Then, we cannot talk about the reputation of Montélimar nougat without talking about the development of tourism in the city which will be favored from 1890 by the development of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée created in 1857, it was a real discovery, by wealthy French people, initially of the regions, their terroirs and their culinary riches. The train allows you to travel in a few hours instead of a few days with stagecoaches! The nougat makers of Montélimar are adapting and moving closer to the station; Maison Val Roubion, a manufacturer of quality nougat, is still close to the station.

And then we all know the rest! The legendary national road 7, at the time the longest national road in France, from Paris to Menton. If initially, before 1963, it was well-off visitors who took it by car, curious and lovers of very good products like Montélimar nougat or beautiful restaurants like Maison Pic in Valence or Maison Point in Vienne. Secondly, with paid holidays, a continuous flow of tourists will pass through the city center of Montélimar every summer. The passage from Montélimar was a real bottleneck, what we now call traffic jam, but this stage of Montélimar held and still holds a special place in the hearts of the French, it is the holidays, the sun, the South, the road to the Mediterranean. Montélimar will become an essential stopover on the holiday route and will allow the city to develop and make its specialty, its delicacies, its nougat known and thus create several generations of lovers! The hotel and catering industry will develop, the Relai de l'Empereur for example will become an essential stopover for people from the North going to the South, we cannot talk about this famous relay de l'Empereur, which takes Elsewhere its name comes from a stay made by Napoleon himself, not to mention the neighboring nougat factory, Maison Val Roubion. The Relai de l'Empereur and its neighbor the Val Roubion nougat factory will never stop welcoming all the star stars on their pilgrimage to the south, from Johnny Hallyday to DJ Snake! Everyone has become a fan of this delicacy which in the collective unconscious evokes so many things, the holiday route, the national 7 dear to Charles Trenet, the famous N7 terminal which will soon be filled with nougats, what a great idea marketing, still today it is a bestseller according to Emilie from the Maison Val Roubion nougat shop.

Even if the passage via the national 7 still remains a tradition for many people, the bulk of the troops of tourists and nougat lovers take the A7 motorway, the motorway of the sun since the end of the 60s. This is how the air of Montélimar will become the largest rest area in Europe and that in both directions two nougat shops will open managed by the inter-nougat economic interest group created in 1968. These two shops have become the points of sale where the most nougat is sold in the world! The story of this confectionery continues and does not seem ready to stop, by train, by car, on foot and now even by bike.

And yes, cycling in Montélimar is lucky to be on the ViaRhôna, this major cycle route linking Lake Geneva in Switzerland to the Mediterranean. There are in total more than 800km of cycle paths along the Rhône dedicated to families, athletes and suitable for roaming stays. The nougat makers of Montélimar are adapting, this is how the Maison Val Roubion nougat factory offers to welcome cyclists doing the ViaRhôna by entering into an approval process, the factory being easily accessible thanks to the Jabron greenway .

You have understood, the adventure of nougat started a long time ago, but it knows how to reinvent itself, to adapt, it does not weaken, on the contrary its universal character allows it to shine, to associate with events like the Tour de France when Montélimar is a stopover town or quite simply with the happy memories of a little boy stuck in traffic with his parents on the road to vacation, that's all the nougat of Montélimar!