The mills of Les Ribes

The huge natural sponge of the Roquevignon massif above Grasse has poured its waters down its sides for millennia. Grasse itself owes its existence to the La Foux source on the edge of the old town and its early prosperity to the Riou Blanquet's powering its grain and, later, its olive and other mills. But to the south of the Roquevignon and out of sight of the old town is the 'Les Ribes’ area, including the quartiers of St Sauveur, Ste Anne and St Francois.  The latter of particular interest to me since I have lived there for twenty five years.

Water can fall in torrents out of the Roquevignon and down Les Ribes. Here's a little video of what is known as La Cascade, on the road up to Cabris, in April 2024 after significant rain – just don’t expect it to look like that in high summer! 

After any prolonged rain, we can hear the roar of the former mill streams echoing across the valley. According to a dossier compiled for our Sud (PACA) region, there were at least 10 mills supplied from La Cascade and other streams.  Les Ribes never developed historically as more than a few fairly isolated dwellings for the obvious reason that there was no flat part of it (unlike Grasse's Puy and the old town behind it) – only a sheer cliff at the top of a steep hillside. But you can see some of the many mills strung along the stream on this map:

Mills of Les Ribes. The red stars are the mills described below. The orange crosses mark other old mill sites with no particular name today.

Only one mill, the Huilerie Sainte Anne, now remains in operation, although these days it’s no longer powered by water. You can buy several single-variety oils there, along with a number of other olive related products. There is also one historic mill in which you can stay: the Moulin Ste Anne, which is now a number of gites, is just below the Huilerie on the other side of the main road. It has kept many features of its milling days, including machinery and the mill-stream.

Further up the valley, you could at one time also stay in a modern building, Moulin des Eaux Vives, which is entered under an impressive aqueduct on the Canal de la Siagne, Cannes’ historic water supply:

Aqueduct of Canal de la Siagne. Moulin des Eaux Vives is through the arch.

Two other mill buildings which today are private houses show how large an enterprise these mills were. This is the stream as it fed the Moulin Saint Francois, on the boulevard Schley which runs around the valley of the Ribes and beneath which three streams still tumble.

Moulin Saint Francois and stream

This view shows what is now known as the Moulin des Ribes, on the route de la Vallée Verte, also close to the aqueduct. The stream runs behind the trees to the right.

Moulin des Ribes

A little further downstream is another private house, known as the Manoir du Blanchissage, which has had quite a varied history. As the name indicates, the site was originally a laundry. A house was built on it in the second half of the 18th century by François Escoffier, a member of a Grasse perfume family. The water flow powered an oil mill and a sawmill. The site was later bought by another well known Grasse family, the Isnards. Both the Escoffiers and the Isnards are believed to have diverted the river to use its water power more effectively.

La Blanchisserie. House through the trees (top); Stream & gardens (below)

In the 1990s, it was bought by a British investor and ‘press baron’, who renovated the house and used the historic water courses to create a pond, regulate the flow and enhance the gardens. It has been sold on since, and begins to look a little neglected.

A drive or walk along the chemin des Basses-Ribes and the route de la Vallée Verte is quite a rewarding way of seeing how Les Ribes has evolved. Another of my blogs, here, describes some other sites of St Francois and Les Ribes.