Honeys
White heather and acacia honey, sometimes lavender, all flowers honey, garrigue or mountain honey, so perfumed, are of course produced in the Gard, but it is especially the ideal place to get your hands on chestnut honey, with its brown and unctuous color and its pronounced taste. Beekeeping is alive and well throughout the department, and you will have no trouble finding local products, often organic, in stores, on markets or directly from the producers by visiting the honey houses.
Croquants Villarets
Excellent nougats and calissons can be found throughout the Gard region, but these croquants are made exclusively in Nîmes, by a family-run patisserie, and have been since 1775. A small dry cake in the shape of a thin rectangular stick with a golden color, it lives up to its name by being especially hard. A tasty almond pebble, which keeps its local recipe a closely guarded secret. In Uzès, you'll enjoy the croquignole, its not-so-distant cousin in round form.
The Cartagena
This typically Languedoc wine liqueur is the basic Cevennes aperitif. It's often made by winegrowers for their own consumption, and you'll find it at genuine artisans' in the Gard region, and more often than not organic. There are other interesting regional liqueurs, such as chestnut or elderflower.
Silk
Although the heyday of the silk industry is now a thing of the past in the region, silk is still produced in the Cévennes, albeit as a rarer and more sought-after product. You'll find it at the Musée de la soie in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort, and around Monoblet, at Soierie des Cévennes, the last remaining manufacturer of silk knitwear, as well as in Sumène, at L'Arsoie Cervin, specializing in silk stockings. A refined souvenir.
Pottery
Although pottery is traditional throughout the Uzège region, Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie is its epicenter. Of the 40 or so artisans based in the village, 35 are potters. Your visit could also be an opportunity to visit a workshop, take a course or even a training course. Towards the Cévennes, you'll find Anduze Boisset vases, which have been made since the end of the 16th century, and will welcome your plants and small trees and adorn your garden as they did at the court of Louis XIV.
Sagne and basketry
Camargue reed is essential for the survival of marshes, and reedbeds provide vital shelter for wetland wildlife. The reed is also used for human purposes, from roofing to decoration and, of course, doormats. In Vauvert, Aimargues and Saint-Gilles, sagneurs perpetuate the tradition. In Vallabrègues, reeds and wicker are used for basketry, which is made here like nowhere else. There's also a museum and a European festival dedicated to the craft.
