The Link to Oil Milling at The House at Le Gros Chigy

I did notice a light circular shape in the "terrace" outside the dining room at La Gros Chigy, but did not give it any real thought, until the previous owner visited and we discussed the house, its history and construction.

photo by ChigyTweet
(Creative Commons Some Limitations License)

Its interesting that the previous owner believes the original house is around 300 years old. The previous owner originally occupied only what is now the kitchen and the first two bedrooms with the area south of that still being a barn.

When they converted the barn into an extension to the house, they added the "terrace". At the time the owner's daughter had "rescued" a millstone from the old vegetable oil mill that the family had apparently run in La Gros Chigy.

The millstone, which is not part of modern industrial oil mills, is used to grind the material from which the oil is to be extracted. This breaks down the structure of the material and frees the oil which coagulates forming droplets. This process takes around 30 minutes and is followed by pressing. A press exerts pressure on the ground seeds and squeezes the oil out of the press from where it is collected.

This type of mill is still used widely in the olive oil industry, especially for the speciality more natural oils.

So thats the story of the white round object in the patio!