Watermill and Race in St Maurice, France (Le Moulin de la Chaussée)

Dear Mother,

The weather is turning nicely, though the air is still crisp.  I will soon go out to see what there is to see.  I spent the morning visiting the market in Charenton, a 10-minute walk from here.  I got a nice veal roast which has been braising on the stove with onions, carrots, turnips and some Alsatian white wine for about three hours.  Add a few potatoes, some special mustard Yves brought today, cheese, bread, wine and fruit, and we are all set for the evening.

I thought I would tell you about a watermill that is a four-minute walk from the Centre Mennonite de Paris.  Some 700+ years ago, water was diverted from the Marne River.  This created a race which supplied enough water to run an impressive water mill. The historic marker reports that the mill was mentioned in documents from the 1300s, and that it was apparently rebuilt in the 1700s.

The mill is about a half block from the Pont de Charenton, the ancient bridge over which Janice's ancestors likely traveled when immigrating from the Montbéliard region.  One can draw a straight line from there that runs through Paris and on to La Havre, the port where they obtained boat passage to the US.  Right after crossing the bridge, they most likely would have continued on the Rue de Paris, which we see daily.  But before getting that far north, they could easily have seen the mill and possibly even seen farmers visiting it.    The mill that stood when they were in transit in the 1800s was partially destroyed by a fire sometime later, and the mill was rebuilt in 1904.  It was finally overtaken by other mills, so it was deactivated in 1972, five years before my first visit to Paris.  The present mill has been reconstructed and is now overseen by the University of Paris (Val-de-Marne).

The following engraving shows how the mill looked in 1802.  This would have been the version seen by Janice's ancestors.  The upper floors have the 18th-c. style of rural windows, including the cute dormers in the attic (possibly where servants lived).  I think that the white building in the background to the left might be the former Protestant church which was where Protestants could worship.  They were granted limited tolerance and had to worship outside Paris.  They could reach both the mill and the church by boat.

 

The next photo shows the present mill's reconstruction, having a somewhat flat roof that is less elegant than that from two centuries earlier.

To photograph at water level, we had to use a substantial stairway of stone.  Obviously, few people explore this any more, and it is quite overgrown.

A handy map shows the river ("La Marne", the wide blue stripe), the A4 highway (narrow dark blue stripe) and the race (narrow blue stripe which then turns, goes under the A4 and joins the river).  You can sort of see where we live if you start at the circle (Vous êtes ici = you are here) and follow the road NNE.  The road ascends the hill and veers to the left, we live near the word "val" (13, rue du Val d'Osne).
 

One other little item.  Dad used to love new cars.  I wish he could see this one.  Cars are changing.  This little four-wheeler is called a "Twizy".  It is made in France by Renault, holds only one person--the driver, but is also available as a two-seater.  If I understand the ads correctly, you can get it delivered either with an electric motor or you can pedal it yourself.  It is designed for city driving, and the pedal version can be driven by anyone, with or without a driver's license.  The electric model has a 17 horse power engine, a range of about 100 kms, and recharges in 3.5 hours.  I wish you had one in Goshen, it would be perfect!  Let the boys know if you are interested.

Time to stop dreaming and start off on today's photo shoot.  I'm thinking of heading to Place d'Italie in the 13th district.  All for now,

with love from us both,
Evan