FONTVIEILLE: Source of inspiration of the “Letters from my windmill”.

Picturesque village which developed, from the 12th century, in a plain, at the bottom of the Alpilles, around Fons Vetus “old fountain”.
Village of stonecutters, the houses themselves are built on old careers exploited since Antiquity, and are, sometimes, partly troglodytic.
The village is universally known today thanks to Alphonse Daudet, who regularly came to visit his cousins in the castle of Montauban. He was inspired by the enchanting landscapes to write the famous "Letters from my mill". Restoring marvellously the smells of Provence, he portrays characters and colorful stories as master Cornille, keeper of a terrible secret. Daudet has never bought windmill in Fontvieille, but the municipality decided to dedicate to its memory, the unique windmill which has preserved its mechanism of origin : today known under the name of “Windmill of Daudet”. Certainly, he has never been owner of the mill, but he often came here to speak with his miller, and he took this mill as model for the description of his famous "installation".