envie, n f envy (=souhait) desire, wish; avoir envie de, to feel like; avoir envie que, to wish that; une envie pressante, a pressing need. Ex.: Mon mari, il a envie d’acheter un moulin.
My husband Ron, imminently handy and forever fascinated with the way things work, would love more than anything to have his own watermill. Well, who wouldn’t want one of those charming old moulins beside a river, but mills seem to be a particular obsession of the male of the species. You may see them standing wistfully in front of the windows of the agences immobilières, the real estate offices, doing a little lèche-vitrines (window-shopping; literally, ‘licking the windows’).
We almost bought a moulin once, in northern Burgundy. It was a fabulous old mill house set in a shady, isolated valley. A stream rushed by, and at it’s edge was an enormous, and still functional, mill wheel, used back in the day for making flour. What does one do with a mill wheel these days? Here was our fantasy: we would bring out a handful of coffee beans each morning, and bring all the power of the mighty wheel to bear, for the perfect cup.
But buying a mill house to grind your morning coffee turned out to be a rather expensive solution; we made do with a new espresso machine instead. We still have envie, however. So we were delighted to discover one Sunday that they were holding a porte ouverte, an open house, at the moulins in our corner of Burgundy.
First up was the mill at Angoins, which we frequently pass and admire. It was perfectly done up in it’s magical setting, all flowers and old stone, babbling brooks and bridges. We were greeted by a well-groomed French poodle and monsieur the owner, who gave us a private tour. The mill was not functional (in fact the wheel was missing–but if you happen to have an old one, 20 feet tall or so, he’s actively looking), and much of the mill space had been renovated into their lovely home.
The next one, in Sigy-le-Châtel, couldn’t have been more different. The house was faded and ill-kept, and the mill works dominated the property. The mill itself was in perfectly restored working order. Gears groaned, pulleys pulled, and water poured over the creaky wheel. The proud owner explained and demonstrated every step of the flour-making process.
There are now internet sites dedicated exclusively to the sale of French water mills. We may be grinding our own coffee after all….
Favorite Reads/Films/etc.: Important TIP for Americans! Are you as hooked as we are on that elegant English period soap, Downton Abbey
And an interesting recommendation from reader Sue Wallace: “I just read a book I hated to finish: Roy Cloud's To Burgundy and Back Again: A Tale of Wine, France, and Brotherhood
In the Comments: Shelley, thank you and yes I am working on a download for readers, of all the recipes. If I can figure out the techincal part! Suzanne, I peel the apples but I don't think it matters much; I think most any apple will do, I used some from a neighbor's tree. I don't have a recipe for old-fashioned caramel icing, which Suzanne has lost, can anyone help? Frank, I will be posting the chicken with cider recipe later but in the meantime, sounds like Julie has a good one–Julie, will you share? And thanks, Julie, for the great restaurant recommendation in the Cote d'Or, it's on the list now!
Our Reader's Blogs: This beautiful autumn weather has me thinking about fall bulbs, and you can find them at Mary's blog, Mary's Garden Patch. And for one of the prettiest food blogs around, go to Maria's A Platter of Figs.
11 thoughts on “A Man and his ‘Moulin’”
Lynn,
Absolutely love reading your blog! I first heard about it in the Furman Spring 2011 magazine. Just got back from my 30th Furman Reunion (Class of ’81) – amazingly I was the only one who hadn’t aged… I spent the fall semester of 1980 in Versailles on the Furman semester abroad trip, and 6 months in 1984 working for DuPont as a stagiaire in Geneve and Paris while in the MIBS program at USC. My wife and I live in Columbia, but travel to France every couple of years. Hope to spend more time in France once the girls (both seniors at AC Flora) head off to college. Keep spreading the good word!!!!
Bill Reynolds
laserprintbill@gmail.com
I bought season 1 of Downton Abbey, and I look forward to watching season 2. Can’t wait!
I can relate to the mill envie. My husband got regular stoneground cornmeal every visit home to Atlanta from a little mill in north Georgia. That miller stopped. My father-in-law has since found another source although it’s not as fine. They will search the planet for stoneground cornmeal because that’s the only way to go for skillet-cooked cornbread and corn cakes.
Lovely post Lynn! Thank you for another great book recommendation, I will be getting “To Burgundy & back again” pretty soon, I only buy books about France because I can see that magnificent country through the words of others (our trip to France isn’t in the near future)until then, I will keep reading those beautiful books. Thank you so much!
XXX Ido
Salut Lynn,
I envy you! It must be nice to be able to “mill around” France.
Love your blog and have shared it with many. If you are
running low on recipes, why not have the readers submit
their favorite French one?
br
to get a working mill to grind your coffee would be fine..a great challange for three men and a truck, but one would want to use the wheel to generete electricity to heat the water as well.
Lovely post again Lynn.
I do love your blog and in particular the book recomendations! And your recipes…….
and your photos!’
Thank you for sharing !
I finally made Nicole’s apple tartine…wow…and I can’t even cook well.
Can hardly wait for Season 2 of “Downton” and you can always tape the Xmas special for us so we can play it online..Alas, there is no longer going to be Season 5 of
“From Larkrise to Candleford” The BBC cancelled it..pfui to them. You might enjoy watching an old BBC series called “Horseman Riding By” and the “Green Gauntlet” by the late R.F. Delderfield. It is not on disc to play in US…The late Duke of Windsor lived in an old Mill outside Paris. They moved.
Love these photos and stories of old water wheels. There’s one in the woods way down in middle Georgia where I’m from. I think it used to be for grinding corn or wheat. It isn’t functional, of course, but I love to traipse through the briars and weeds and get to the little creek and just look at it. Still beautiful and you can just imagine the history.
Lynn:
I feel I must recommend my latest discovery to you and your readers! As you may know I am writing a book about an American woman which takes place between 1880 and 1943. I love doing it but the research is prodigious! So, for light reading, I generally go for a mystery series, and I’m always on the hunt. I tell you, this new one is the BOMB. I believe there are currently 3 books in the series, by American writer Susanne Alleyn, and they are: Game of Patience, The Cavalier of the Apocalypse and Treasury of Regrets. I could be forgetting one, but she has a good website. Just Google Susanne Alleyn. They all take place during the time of the French Revolution and the “hero” is a man named Aristede Ravel, who works as an assistant to the Parisian police, specifically with Inspector Brasseur. This little series has it all, and I am promising you will NOT be disappointed! I love these books and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of another of her books, A Far Better Rest, which is —-wait for it!—A Tale of Two Cities told from Carton’s point of view! Could you DIE!! How do people think of these wonderful topics???
As usual, a wonderful blog and …I too want a house with a water wheel, and I am planning the apple caramel cake for Thanksgiving dessert. I will let you know, but what could be bad? “Caramel sauce”. The very phrase is enough to send me off to Stonewall Kitchen for THEIR sauce, and I just know yours will be even better!
I can’t wait til you start writing about Christmas in France…I know there is not quite the hoop-la that there is here, but still…the traditions must be beautiful.
Toujours,
Linda