Etape 5 La Chevauchée du Pays d'Auge à la Seine : Orbec - Broglie

A guided tour traces the history of the small mill back to the 12th century, A permanent exhibition entitled "L'Age d'Or des Moulins de l'Orbiquet" (The Golden Age of the Orbiquet Mills) features 14 panels exploring the role of the Orbiquet mills in 19th-century economic and social life. Designed by engineer Ernest Bollée and one of only eight built in France, it is the only one visible and in this state of preservation. The Orbiquet river drives a 12 hp Sagebien-type waterwheel, which, with the help of two bodies of three pumps, drew water from a reservoir fed by springs.30 Bollée-patented ?unfreezable? public fountains provided Orbec?s inhabitants with unlimited access to water of good quality for the time. Restoration of the Bollée wheel and mechanism has enabled us to enhance this 19th-century industrial heritage. The machine and the kilometers of cast-iron pipe were delivered to the Orbec railway station, inaugurated a few years earlier. The Lisieux Orbec line has kept local industry alive along the Orbiquet valley. Visit by appointment.

Before joining La Folletière-Abenon, the River Orbiquet is believed to take its source from at least two underground rivers, which guarantee excellent levels of cool water, even in summer. This peaceful spot and its crystal clear waters are only disturbed by the many divers and speleologists who come to explore its underground galleries. Open to all, the site includes the vestiges of a former mill, a wash house, a restored cider press and a picnic area. Consult the pdf >