Built in 1713 in Castillon-du-Gard, the mill turned in the mistral, fell silent, then was restored in the 1960s using measurements taken from Daudet's own mill. Today you sleep within its stone walls, facing the Pont du Gard, under the name of a legendary miller.
1713: a mill facing the mistral
In 1713, a stone tower was raised in the garrigue of Castillon-du-Gard, at 30 Chemin du Moulin à Vent. A windmill is built where the wind blows, and here that wind is the mistral: the northerly that scours the sky and leaves it so clear also turned the sails and ground the grain. From the mill, the view stretches to the Pont du Gard, the UNESCO-listed Roman aqueduct, five minutes away. Three centuries on, the circular walls, whitewashed vaults and original timber frame are still in place. The wind, for its part, has not changed.
The secret of Master Cornille
The mill takes its name from a character in Alphonse Daudet's “Lettres de mon moulin” (Letters from My Windmill, 1869). In “The Secret of Master Cornille”, steam-powered flour mills have just arrived and the windmills are falling silent one by one. Only old Cornille keeps his sails turning, though nobody brings him any wheat. One day the village discovers his secret: his sacks hold nothing but rubble and plaster. The miller was grinding nothing at all, to save the honour of his mill. Moved, the villagers bring him back their wheat. It is to this faithful miller that the mill at Castillon pays tribute.
Rebirth and living memory
Like Cornille's, the mill at Castillon eventually fell still. In the 1960s, those who saved it went to measure the roof and sails of Daudet's mill at Fontvieille, in the Alpilles. Since 1959, holidaymakers and former owners have been leaving poems and stories here, all kept word for word. Today you live inside that history: 90 m² in the tower, three bedrooms for five guests, circular walls, whitewashed vaults, the original timber frame and the view over the Pont du Gard. The mill can be booked directly here, from €750 a week.
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