Maison de Bargas, sweet bakery in Alès
FR - Opened in December 2025, Maison de Bargas is Simon's successful venture.
Bearing proudly name, the bakery and pâtisserie also embodies all his baking and entrepreneurial skills.
French & international career
With experience in marketing and social media management with major supermarket chains, Simon completed his training by obtaining a CAP (vocational training certificate) in fishmongering, which enabled him to expand his expertise by becoming a department manager.
A professional opportunity then took him abroad to the Middle East and the Indian Ocean in 2014. Qatar, Kuwait, Madagascar, all on behalf of major French brands wishing to establish themselves there and promote the food industry. He supervised the opening of several stores in Qatar, Kuwait and Madagascar.
Back in France, Simon discovered the world of baking and pastry-making alongside renowned chefs: Angelo Musa at the Plaza Athénée, Cédric Grolet at Le Meurice, Maxence Barbot, now at Le Bristol, and Christophe Michalak, among others.
Maison de Bargas, an achievement
The opening of Maison de Bargas in Alès marked the birth of his own brand. Between Auvergne and the Perpignan region, it was ultimately the city in the Gard department that caught the attention of the now baker, who wanted to be part of the dynamism that had been driving the ‘capital of the Cévennes’ for now several years.
After a radical transformation of the bakery in the town centre, close to the abbey market halls (halles de l'abbaye), to become the future Maison de Bargas, and the discovery of a few historical gems such as some walls of the old abbey...
Simon and his wife embarked on the adventure of creating a gourmet destination, together with a pastry chef trained at the INBP (Institut Nationale de Boulangerie Pâtisserie de Rouen) and a pastry chef who learned his trade at the Victoria bakery in Alès.
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Find out more about the profession of viennoiserie chef... "The viennoiserie chef (tourier in French) prepares and makes the dough used to make pastries, tarts, cakes and savoury dishes. The viennoiserie chef also makes creams and fillings and applies techniques such as rolling, cutting, shaping, folding and decorating. Sometimes the viennoiserie chef is also responsible for baking"... (source: Confédération Nationale de la Boulangerie et de la Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Française).
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Bread, pastries and other cakes...
The result lives up to expectations: Beautifully golden and crispy breads (Cevenol, small spelt, corn, bûcheron, fougasses, etc.), pastries (to be enjoyed as soon as possible (brioches, pretty and surprising apple turnovers, chocolate palmiers, Nutella puff pastries, pistachio rolls, which may soon find their savoury counterparts...), quiches, gratins, but also colourful and, of course, delicious cakes (raspberry/mango desserts, vanilla flan with crispy pastry and creamy, melt-in-the-mouth vanilla cream...) enough to please customers from all over the Gard, Lozère and even the nearby Hérault.
Many thanks to Simon de Bargas and his wife for their welcome and collaboration on the blog's Lifestyle section.
The address: Maison de Bargas, 30 rue de la République, Alès. Find Maison de Bargas on Instagram and Facebook. Tel: 07 66 88 24 95, sdebargas@gmail.com.
To find out more about the former royal abbey of Notre Dame des Fonts Saint Bernard et Sainte Claire, dating from the 14th century.