Gabriel's Mill

The old moulin guards the little road up to our hameau. It is exposed to every wind possible, and in the snow, it almost disappears in the drifts.
It belonged to and was worked by Gabriel Palancade; Cecile's greatgrandfather, who lived in the house behind ours.
For years he ground the wheat brought to him by the paysans and sold it back to them as flour, which they then cooked into loaves in the bread ovens that were built into every house.
By the early 19th century, Boulangers started appearing in rural towns and little by little the individual bread ovens went cold.
Gabriel had passed his mill onto his sons, and they, in turn, onto theirs. In 1914, his grandson, Hippolyte, was sent to the local town as an apprentice baker. The war interupted his training, but he returned to the village in 1918, married his fiancee and opened his own boulangerie. It's deep oven, in Ceciles's house, is now cold, but the large brick chimney is still there, and the long paddles lean against the wall as if they are just having a rest