The commune of L'Escarène originally had seven mills, six oil mills and one flour mill. Today, only three remain: the mill museum, the communal oil mill, and the flour mill, dating from 1655, which has housed the Cougourdon Museum since 20113.
This museum presents a unique collection of 150 cucurbits, kindly donated to the municipality by Tom Roméo, an octogenarian who has been passionate about growing these vegetables since the age of 14. He has shaped and decorated them in very unusual ways, turning them into characters, animals, or objects... according to the artist's imagination.
In the Nice dialect, a cougourdon is a calabash, a dry squash as hard as wood. Since the 19th century, local tradition has dictated that cougourdons be given as gifts in early spring to wish prosperity and good health to those around you.
To visit, contact the town hall.
https://www.escarene.fr/2018/02/16/musees-et-patrimoine/
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