What if we visited a factory like we visited a museum or a castle?
From industry flagships to family businesses, nearly 2,000 workshops and production sites open their backstage to the public.
An excellent way to discover the different facets of French know-how in many fields: energy, aeronautics, tableware, cosmetics ... Nearly 15 million people have devoted themselves to industrial tourism (also called "knowledge tourism -do ”) in France in 2019, against 10 million ten years earlier, according to Entreprise et Découverte, an association promoting company visits with more than 400 members.
Manufacture of glass, elaboration of perfumes, construction of airplanes ...
Le Figaro
has selected ten active industrial sites to be discovered in France.
Read also: The company visit has a future
To meet the Electricity Fairy
Hydraulic dams, nuclear power plants, thematic museums… Throughout France, around 100
Electricité de France (EDF)
sites
are open to the general public.
They attract nearly 425,000 visitors every year, curious to learn more about the production of electricity.
The company is one of the pioneers of industrial tourism in France.
As early as the 1950s, EDF opened its sites to the public to answer questions from residents and promote acceptance of new structures.
Visits are generally provided by the employees themselves.
Among the sites to discover, let us quote the hydroelectric power station of Saint-Étienne-Cantalès (Cantal). Built from 1939 to 1945, this concrete structure, 69 meters high and 270 meters long, has been used since July by a work by visual artist Delphine Gigoux-Martin,
Aster
. This installation on the vault of the hydroelectric dam is made up of 300 enameled pieces molded on real starfish, some phosphorescent, which will draw "
a sky changing, in movement, a living sky like the real sky
", specifies the artist passionate about nature.
Saint-Étienne-Cantalès power station:
departures from the Châtaigneraie Cantalienne tourist office, rue de la Trémolière, 15150 Laroquebrou.
Visits every Friday from June to September.
Free.
Reservation on 04 71 46 94 82 up to 48 hours before the visit.
All EDF sites open to the public are listed on estivales-edfhydrocentre.fr and by the Entreprise et Découverte association.
Read also: Four industrial sites for an immersion in the working history of the Moselle
To play the air girls
On the Airbus site in Saint-Nazaire, visitors get to see the planes up close before they are fitted.
Vincent bauza
The European
aircraft
manufacturer
Airbus
opens the doors to its Saint-Nazaire site (Loire-Atlantique). This is where the
nose tips and central fuselages of the entire range of Airbus planes
are “
assembled, equipped and tested
”, before being transported to Toulouse or Hamburg for final assembly, recalls the tourist office. The two-hour visit takes place in the assembly workshop, as close as possible to the aircraft that will transport us a few years later. The Toulouse site (Haute-Garonne), headquarters of the aircraft manufacturer, offers three tour routes (from 1h30 to 2 hours) including in particular a passage through the assembly line of the A350XWB and a route in buses on the 700 hectares of Airbus infrastructure.
Saint-Nazaire:
departure from the submarine base, then transfer by bus.
Phone.
: 02 28 54 06 40. Reservations at the tourist office.
Prices: € 17 for an adult, € 8.50 from 7 to 17 years old.
Toulouse:
allée André Turcat, 31700 Blagnac.
Phone.
: 05 34 39 42 00. Reservations with Manatour.
Prices: depending on the circuits, from 16 to 20 € for an adult, from 13 to 17 € for a child.
To learn about the arts of the table
Arc International
From the footbridge overlooking the workshops, visitors can discover the different stages of glass making.
Arc International
Arc International, one of the world leaders in tableware, welcomes visitors to its historic factory located in Arques, near Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais).
Founded in 1825, the company offers a one-and-a-half-hour tour on the catwalk overlooking its manufacturing workshop.
A way to discover the different stages of glass manufacturing, from the formation of the glass drop at 1500 ° C to the packaging of the finished product.
At the end of the journey, visitors have access to the factory outlet where items are sold at discounted prices.
Glassworks Arc, 132 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 62510 Arques.
Reservation by phone (Tel.: 03 21 12 74 74) or email (visite-usine@arc-intl.com).
Prices: € 9.90 per adult, € 7.90 per child.
Visits from Tuesday to Saturday between 10 am and 5 pm.
Read also: Biot glassworks, mother of industrial tourism
Laguiole cutlery Honoré Durand
It is the cradle of the little bee on which we put our index finger before cutting a piece of meat.
The Laguiole Honoré Durand cutlery, in the town of Laguiole (pronounced “laïole”) claims the authenticity of its products, which have been copied many times.
Here, the knives are forged and assembled in a traditional way.
Three visits make it possible to make sure of this: that of the workshop by a cutler with demonstration, the visit of the modern forge and the historical visit of the Laguiole knife museum.
As a bonus, you can take part in an internship to make your own folding Laguiole knife.
Laguiole cutlery Honoré Durand, route d'Aubrac, ZA la Poujade, 12210 Laguiole.
Phone.
: 05 65 51 50 14. Free.
All year round, Monday to Saturday at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m. and 5 p.m.
To take care of his coquetry
Fragonard Perfumery
The historic factory of perfumer Fragonard, in Grasse.
Fragonard Perfumer
What better place than the perfume capital of the world to unlock the secrets of perfumery?
In Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes),
Fragonard
welcomes visitors to its historic factory, still in operation since 1926. Along the route, visitors get to know the mysteries of traditional perfumery, from the treatment of raw materials to packaging of finished products.
The family business is also opening the doors to its two other sites on the Côte d'Azur: the Fabrique des Fleurs, also in Grasse, and the factory-laboratory in Èze-sur-Mer.
Parfumerie Fragonard - The historic factory, 20 boulevard Fragonard, 06130 Grasse.
Phone.
: 04 93 36 44 65. Free guided tours every day, no reservation required.
Read also: The Côte d'Azur in the shade of blossoming mimosas
Marius Fabre soap factory
The establishment has been producing Marseille soap and black soap with olive oil in an artisanal way since 1900. The guided tour of the factory allows you to discover the stages of the saponification process, almost unchanged since the 18th century, from the quayside from the factory to the cauldron room, passing through the drying room and the cutting and marking room.
For barrier gestures, don't panic, there should be enough to wash your hands on site ...
Savonnerie Marius Fabre, 148 avenue Paul-Bourret, 13300 Salon-de-Provence.
Phone.
: 04 90 53 24 77. Free.
One visit every half hour from Monday to Saturday, from 9.45 a.m. to 5.45 p.m.
To discover a spirits sanctuary
Maison Rémy Martin, 4 km from Cognac, offers tours of its distilleries.
Rémy Martin House
4 km from Cognac (Charente),
Maison Rémy Martin
offers a dozen tours within its domain.
The classic visit takes place at the Merpins estate, aboard a little train which notably links the vines to the assembly and aging cellars.
New in 2021: the “Discovery between vines and distillery” route which reveals the stages of production of spirits, from vines to glass via distillation.
The visits end with the tasting of a 1738 Accord Royal cognac accompanied by a gourmet bite.
As a souvenir, the glass is offered at the end of the tasting.
Maison Rémy Martin, 20 rue de la Société Vinicole, 16100 Cognac.
Phone.
: 05 45 35 76 66. Visits throughout the year by reservation.
Read also: Le Chais Monnet, the rebirth of an industrial flagship into a 5-star hotel
To find his child's soul
At the Confiserie des Hautes Vosges, the sweets are cooked in copper cauldrons.
I see life in the Vosges / Photo press
With essential oils of Eucalyptus and fir, licorice-anise or poppy, the candies from
Confiserie des Hautes Vosges
are not just regressive little pleasures.
They also have respiratory, digestive or anti-stress virtues.
The guided tour shows the production, including cooking in copper cauldrons or cutting candy plates by hand or machine, and ends with a tasting.
And no need for a golden ticket!
Confiserie Des Hautes Vosges, 44 Habeaurupt, 88230 Plainfaing.
Phone.
: 03 29 50 44 56. Free.
Individual visit from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Read also: Five nuggets to discover in the Northern Vosges
To get into the nails
The Rivierre nail factory in Creil still works with period machines.
Clouterie Rivierre
The last nail factory in France has been installed in Creil since 1888. More than 2,800 different nails, seeds, spikes and points are produced there using unchanged processes.
A visit to the
Rivierre nail factory
presents all the stages of production, from wire drawing to packaging, including the machine room, where point workers are at work on the 325 period machines.
A dive into the industrial era of the 19th century.
Clouterie Rivierre, 6 rue des Usines, 60100 Creil.
Phone.
: 07 69 85 69 60. 12 €.
Every Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Read also: In the Oise, a life-size escape game
To be right in his boots
Nearly 200 rubber masters manufacture boots by hand in the only French factory of Aigle International, near Châtellerault.
Brice Portolano
Originally there were two Americans: one, Charles Goodyear, inventor of the rubber vulcanization process;
the other, Hiram Hutchinson, who bought the patent for this invention from him and in 1853 opened his first “À l'Aigle” factory in France.
First acclaimed by farmers who want to protect themselves from the rain, then used in boating or gardening, the waterproof boots from
Aigle
have become over the decades a real fashion accessory.
In the group's only French factory, located in Ingrandes, a few kilometers from Châtellerault (Vienne), nearly 200 rubber masters make some 450,000 pairs of boots by hand each year.
During the visit (between 1h30 and 2 hours), we attend the cutting and the preparation of the various parts until the final assembly of the products and the quality controls.
Aigle International, ZI Saint-Ustre, 86220 Ingrandes.
Reservation by phone (05 49 86 89 06) or email (visite@aigle.com).
Free visits throughout the year on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am;
closed from mid-July to mid-August and between Christmas and New Years.