In a 900 square meter room, he brought together 40 confectionery-making machines and 2,000 archival items and objects, all relating to the confectioner’s profession. Its objective is first to preserve this tangible and intangible heritage, and then to open its conservatory to visitors at the beginning of next year. He doesn’t want it to be a museum since all the machines will work and make real sweets, in short it will be like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Real machines for making sweets, calissons, nougat and lollipops

Nicolas Viollet, who was born in Chambray-lès-Tours, comes from a family of confectioners; his grandfather and father already made confectionery. So he fell into it when he was little. He took and passed his CAP as a confectioner-chocolatier, but the idea of ​​collecting confectionery machines to preserve this heritage came to him at the age of 14 when his father brought home three dream machines. Two years later, Nicolas bought his first machine for 3,000 euros, a calisson press.

When you push open the door of this living conservatory of confectionery, the smell of sugar immediately transports you into the magical world of nougat, pralines and sweets. On the left, the calisson press coming directly from the town of Cruis in the Alpes de Haute Provence. : “CIt is a cast iron frame, we place plates on it whose cells have the shape of calissons, we will stuff these cells with calisson paste, and then we will apply a plate of icing on top. Nicolas Viollet has been collecting these dream-making machines for 20 years now.