Charming mill (2 bdrms) in the Eastern Pyrenees. Set on a stream (the Matassa), with Cathare castles and wonderful wineries all around. Toulouse, Barcelona, Carcassonne, Girona and the sea all within an hour or two. The space The Mill (“Moulin” in French) at Feilluns is a two-story house set on the slope just up from the Matassa stream. For centuries it was the mill to which the people of the town of Feilluns and surrounding area brought their grain to be ground. The living quarters are mainly on the upstairs level (the “main floor”), which because of the slope opens onto the garden terrace. The main floor has two bedrooms, open kitchen/living room, and newly-remodeled bathroom. There is also a mezzanine level that looks down on the kitchen/living room and which can be used for sleeping or as an office. In the lower level underneath is a small room with a washing machine, and in the "cave" are the old millworks with the millstone. The mill is discussed in the book « Moulins et meuniers du Fenouillèdes » The mill is set back several hundred meters from the road on a wooded terrain. All the land along the stream for several hundred meters on the near side belongs to the mill. It is bright and cheerful, but secluded enough that one can relax in peace. The Mill at Feilluns is in the heart of the Roussillon area in the Southwest of France, not far from the Spanish border. This is a region rich in history and culture and which has been inhabited steadily for the past million years. The Cathare castle-fortresses left from the Alibgensian crusade of the 13th century are all around. Twenty kilometers away at Tautavel are the museum and excavations where the oldest human skeleton in Western Europe, dating from 450,000 years ago, has been found and is on display. Paleolithic sites abound, as do Roman and medieval ones: three kilometers away is the covered Roman bridge and aqueduct at Ansignan, and thirty kilometers away is the Cistercian Abbey of Fontfroide. As well as the cultural sites of castles, abbeys, and wineries, there are beaches at a 45-50 minute drive (the beaches at and around Collioure are spectacular), and the area is also crisscrossed by well-marked hiking trails, some of which pass within a kilometer of the mill. This is an area of both cultural and eco-tourism, given that the landscape is dramatic and beautiful. From mid-April through October there is very little rain, and the temperatures range from 20-32 degrees centigrade during the hottest part of the day. In winter there are ski stations at an hour and a half driving distance as well. Other things to note Please note: the south of France, and the Pyrénées Orientales in particular, have suffered in the past couple of years from a drought. The fire danger is thus very high and for that reason last summer it was forbidden in the whole region to use a barbecue. We believe that such will be the case again this summer and we ask people to be very prudent. Registration number 030214