Moulin de la Galette – The Galette Mill
Ce point d’intérêt est disponible en audio dans le circuit: Visit Paris, The Bohemian Quarter
The mill you see above the restaurant here isn’t just for show; it’s real and has quite a history! Believe it or not, there used to be 30 mills on the Montmartre Hill. In 1812, a miller named Mr Debray, owner of two mills, decided to open a little canteen below one of them to sell farm-to-table rye-flour galettes. In 1834, he decided to turn it into an open-air dance hall. It was a huge hit, and soon all of Paris was flocking to the Moulin de la Galette! Renoir even immortalized it in his painting “Dance at Le moulin de la Galette,” a copy of which can be seen at the entrance. The dance hall kept up with the times, becoming a music hall in the mid-20th century, and later hosting radio and TV stations. In 1978, the mill was restored and listed as a historical monument. It was never used again but is considered the last working mill in Paris. If you continue the tour, you’ll soon come across Mr. Debray’s other mill, sitting atop the hill. It was named Blute-Fin, from the verb “bluter,” meaning “to sift (finaly),” and it’s now located on a privately-owned plot of land, so it’s not open to the public. It was restored yet again in 2001 and is the last working mill on the hill! A true living legend!
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