Aux Marocains

Aux Marocains at 33 Rue Clemenceau is one of Vichy's more enduring curiosities: a confectionery shop with roots in the late-nineteenth-century resort economy, still operating from the same premises with a focus on traditional French confectionery and, in particular, the city's famous Vichy pastilles. These small hexagonal tablets, embossed with the city's name, are the most recognisable souvenir of the spa town — originally prescribed as a digestive aid to accompany the mineral water treatments, they have become simply a pleasant mint-flavoured sweet.

The shop itself is worth a visit as a piece of living commercial history. The interior retains much of its original character, and the selection extends well beyond pastilles to include regional chocolates, nougats, and old-fashioned French sweets increasingly hard to find elsewhere. It is a better souvenir stop than most of what passes for shopping in the city.

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A story
Aux Marocains was founded in the late nineteenth century by Moroccan traders who had come to Vichy to supply the growing resort with exotic goods and confectionery. At the time, North African merchants were a visible presence in the major French spa towns, selling sweets, oriental goods, and curios to wealthy visitors. The shop on Rue Clemenceau has outlasted most of its contemporaries by specialising in Vichy's distinctive pastilles — a tradition that has kept it in business for well over a century.

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