Pâtisserie Bigot, Amboise

By no stretch of the imagination is Amboise a run of the mill French town. In fact, for its size, it’s extraordinary. It has: not one, not two but three fabulous chateaux; the mighty Loire thundering under a very fine bridge; a museum; an art gallery; two important works of art by lifelong friends Max Ernst and Sandy Calder; shops specialising in lace, soap and cheese; a traditional shoe mender; a chap who makes walnut oil and then there’s Bigot which identifies Amboise as much as its famous châteaux.

As the sign above the door says, the Company started in 1913 when M. René Bigot and his wife Julia opened a bakery here. Wood for the oven was stored in the Chateau tunnel. Their Sunday cakes were hugely popular.

In the 1920s the couple invested in a life changing automatic kneading machine which freed up time and effort. They also opened a tea room. For the next fifty years, René baked and Julia did the accounts. She also made ice cream with an ice cream maker installed in the cellar. Her speciality was mirabelle plum made from fruit in her garden.

Julia’s daughter Renée was born above the bakehouse. Renee’s daughter Christiane was also born there. In 1963, Renée took over from her parents. In 1972, to cater for the growing tourist trade, she stopped making bread to concentrate on patisserie.

The old bakery oven is still there. The bakery was converted into the pretty little tea room so loved by all. Her mother, Mme Julia Bigot, lived above the pastry shop. She died there aged one hundred.

After almost twenty years at the helm, in 1982 Renée handed the baton to her daughter Christiane. In 2019 Christiane, after almost forty years, passed it to the fourth generation, her daughter Paola.

At Bigot everything is tout a fait, made on the premises by five patissiers and three ice cream makers. Customers are warmly welcomed by staff who know their business, some of whom have been here thirty years.

Bigot is much more than a tea room, a chocolatier, patissier and ice cream parlour, it’s an institution much loved by the locals, who include Mick Jagger and tourists who come here from every corner of the Globe.

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Post by Pamela, Photography by Mark.