Manufacture des tabacs

It's hard to ignore the imposing buildings of the Royal Tobacco Factory in Tonneins! The oldest were built in 1721 on the Quai de la Barre, to be as close as possible to the Garonne River, and thus to the barges used to transport the bales of tobacco. Why here? Quite simply because the region of Clairac, in which you find yourself, cultivated very early on the precious plant, brought back from the Americas in 1556 by the monk and explorer André Thévet, who was the first to introduce tobacco to France.