Montélimar
France > Provence > Rhone Valley > Montélimar

The main street of the old town, rue Pierre-Julien, runs from the one remaining medieval gateway on the nineteenth-century ring of boulevards at place St-Martin, south past the church of Ste-Croix with its well-populated square, and onto place Marx-Dormoy. At no. 19, opposite the post office, is the Musée de la Miniature (June to mid-Sept daily 10am–6pm; mid-Sept to May Wed–Sun 2–6pm; €4.90), whose tiny exhibits, some so small you have to use a microscope, have been created by leading contemporary artists. There's a grain of rice bearing a portrait of Pushkin and one of his poems, and a table laid with a chess game is no bigger than a five cent coin.

Leading off rue Pierre-Julien are many medieval lanes with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century town houses, and around the pastel facades and old arcades of place du Marché you'll find Le Métro bar, done up as an old Paris métro station with a young clientele playing chess and backgammon. Above the old town to the east is the impressive Château des Adhémars on rue du Château (mid-June to Sept 10am–1pm & 3–7pm; Oct to mid-June Wed–Sun 9.30–11.30am & 2–5.30pm; €3.50). Originally belonging to the family after whom the town ("Mount of the Adhémars") was named, the castle is mostly fourteenth-century, but also boasts a fine eleventh-century chapel and twelfth-century living-quarters. If you wish to find out more about the town's famous nougat (the word is a contraction of a phrase meaning "you spoil us"), you can visit the Nougats Gerbe d'Or factory at 140 av Jean-Jaurès (daily 8am–noon & 2–6pm), where you will be shown around the plant and have a chance to sample (and buy) the end product.