Lot-et-Garonne hosts events to celebrate water mills and windmills

THIS weekend the proud inhabitants of the Lot-et-Garonne pay homage to the historic monuments and buildings of the department such as houses, windmills and water mills (moulins), pigeonniers and churches. All of which were built painstakingly by hand by ancient artisans of the area.

There are two seperate heritage events this year. One day will be devoted to the heritage of the countryside and its artisans where not only will people be made aware of the need for conservation of these historic sites but also home in on the skills needed to build them that, unfortunately, have long since disappeared.

At Moirax, people will have the chance to see how different the world was in 19th century rural France on a farm that still uses tools and machinery from that era. On the other side of the Garonne river at Serignac-sur-Garonne there is the chance to see artisans demonstrate long forgotten skill and trades. There is also a visit to a workshop to see a demonstration of how prunes were produced in the olden days.

The second awareness event is the la Journée des moulins (a day dedicated to mills of the Lot-et-Garonne). Today, in the Lot-et-Garonne there are only 500 mills remaining. In 1809 there were 1400 of windmills and water mills combined.

Of the remaining 500, 150 are windmills. Hubert Laurent, a member of l'association des Amis des moulins, explains that nowadays it makes perfect sense to think of these existing old mills that still function not only as tourist attractions but also as a way of developing sustainable energy.

It's not unheard of for pople who have restored water mills, designed to generate electricity by turbine, to sell electricity back to the national grid.

On Sunday morning starting from Agen at 9am you can join a treasure hunt of the famous heritage sites of the region.

At each site an expert will give each contestant clues to the next site.

The entrance fee is six euros and leaves from the administrative part of the town (cité administrative d'Agen).