Once in Le Moulin Bregeon flour was ground to make bread for the whole village of Linières-Bouton. As often happens, this old 18th century mill in the Loire Valley of France has been abandoned. Today it is a charming Bed and Breakfast where time stands still, the breath becomes slower, the spirit becomes quiet. And you feel like living more consciously.

And this was precisely the intent of the American artist Jonathan Scott Robinson, who purchased the mill in 1992: to create a small community as independent as possible to enhance the territory and art, respecting themselves, animals and nature, despite modernism. Pascal Merillou takes care of the garden and the animals (geese, ducks, turkeys, chickens!), Bernard Levenez of the kitchen, hospitality and good manners. And then there are foreign young artists, who come here to be trained by the painter and who collaborate in the daily care of the mill, making the atmosphere special. "When we arrived at the mill almost 30 years ago there were only one shepherd and seven donkeys, and everything was in decline," tells Jonathan.

Le Moulin Bregeon is not a simple stop, but a unique experience. Here we talk about art and philosophy: "Modernity in France is destroying the beauties of the past, and nobody seems to worry about saving them" says the artist. Le Moulin Bregeon enhances the genuine and authentic things. Eat a salad based on green beans and garden potatoes with fresh eggs laid by the hens the same morning. Products that are not in the vegetable garden are purchased by local farmers.

French embroidered bed sheets from the 19th century, fresh flowers, antique porcelain and silver candelabra: everything is designed to safeguard the beauty of the French heritage. The gears of the old mill, purely decorative, are still visible in the breakfast room, in the Fleur Blanche room and in the Grainerie room.

Jonathan, in addition to Le Moulin Bregeon, purchased most of the abandoned buildings of the village of Linières-Bouton, such as the old food shop or the blacksmith's workshop. In one of these spaces resides his studio (his pastels and oil paintings have been exhibited in NYC, Koln, San Francisco and Angers!). Each year he brings a small piece of the village back to life, to create independent houses or other rooms, giving to more people the opportunity to live in this place out of time.

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