THE PLACE
A BIT OF HISTORY
The Estanque mill was built in 1694, it is so old that it appears on the first map of France, commissioned by Louis XV to the Cassinis.
It is located 550 m above sea level, straddling the municipalities of Rimont and Esplas de Sérou, at the confluence of two streams, the Maille and the Estanque, which meet on the property to form the Baup, a tributary of the Salat.
There are actually two mills on site, a large mill, which was used to produce flour from cereals grown in the valley, and a small mill, which was used to grind phosphate extracted from the mine located on the property.
The access to this mine, abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century, was definitively closed by Etienne Dat, the last miller of Estanque, when he had to leave the mill during the mobilization of 1939.
At its peak, the mill was an economic lung of the valley, much more populated at the time (the hamlet of Pombole for example, located just above and which now has a dozen inhabitants, sheltered up to 400 people).
The inhabitants of the valley brought their grain to the Estanque, yielded part of their production to the miller, and left with their flour, or with fruits, vegetables, cheese, and various products that were available to buy on site.
Then came the rural exodus, the valley gradually emptied of its inhabitants, and pastures and terraced crops gave way to the forest that has colonized since most of the landscape.
After the death of Étienne Dat in 1970, the Estanque mill remained vacant for many years.
A NEW LIFE
In 1994, the Fernandez family bought this forgotten property. The buildings were then in ruins, and the landscape was devoured by brambles. They raise the mill, put the roofs in place, clear, rehabilitate the water reservoir of the mill and its feed channel, and dig new ponds, to install a fish farm.
The pure waters of the Estanque allow them to raise different species of trout, as well as brook salmon. They set up a restaurant on site serving the fish they produce, and opened some ponds for fishing, making the mill an emblematic place for picnics and family outings of the area.
Fish farming closed in 2008.
In 2018, we buy this property and set in the natural chestnut grove overlooking the mill a Mangalica pig farm .
This is an ancient breed of Hungarian origin, for a long time reserved for the table of the imperial family, and which produces meat and fat of exceptional quality but which, much less profitable to raise than modern breeds developed since the nineteenth century, came close to extinction.
Helped by the hardiness of this breed, we set up a farming method radically oriented towards animal welfare: slow growth for two years, in total open air and under forest cover, natural reproduction, no vaccine or antibiotic treatment, piglets left under the mother for three months, respect for the social organization of the animals (very important for the welfare of the pig, which is a social animal), only one reproduction per year, quality food, spring water in abundance, etc...
These specificities allow us to produce exceptional meat, which we sell to individuals everywhere in France in the form of packages, and to several restaurants in Ariège and Paris.
A SPECIAL PLACE
In the hollow of a small woody valley, between ponds and streams, the Estanque mill is a real haven of calm and nature where freely flourish hedgehogs, butterflies, dragonflies, crayfish, fish, bats, birds, salamanders and frogs, and so many other species unfortunately becoming rare in many places, but which can live here safe from chemical, sound, or light pollution.
A concrete advantage of this balanced ecosystem is that it protects us from mosquitoes whose population is regulated thanks to the strong presence of several of their natural predators.
Wild mammals are also present, but they avoid humans and it is rare to see them, their traces on the other hand are omnipresent, whether it is the barking of the roe deer, the soiled dug by the boars during the night, the dung of martens or foxes, the furrows left by badgers, or the call of the deer, which we hear perfectly here at the very beginning of autumn.
This wild life, the luxuriant vegetation, the omnipresent water, give to this ancient place an out of time and almost magical atmosphere, ideal for a moment of relaxation and disconnection.
The mill is a lively place, where each season brings its own beauties and its own poetry : explosion of wild flowers in spring, freshness and intense greenery in summer, golden hues in autumn, and beautiful frozen landscapes in winter...
And the nights here are as beautiful as the days, since the total absence of surrounding lighting offers the opportunity to contemplate the stars and adorns, on full moon evenings, the place of a surprising clarity.
Apart from our Mangalica pig farm, which you can visit, we also have Ouessant sheeps, free range chickens, several cats, and Rocky, an adorable dog that gets along very well with other animals and humans.
