Paris' answer to Brooklyn is famous for its industrial past. In Pantin, the lofty eight-storey silhouette of the Grands Moulins has hardly changed at all, as the buildings were skilfully restored in 2009. One major element of the Grands Moulins' past has been carefully preserved in the heart of the atrium, once the boiler room. Here sits the American industrial Babcock & Wilcox boiler, dating back to 1926. At that time, the Grands Moulins de Pantin were some of the first flour mills in France. Built in 1880 between the Canal de l'Ourcq and the eastern railways so as to easily receive raw materials and ship what they produced, the mills turned out nearly 190,000 tonnes of flour per year at the height of production. The Grands Moulins were operated by a cereal company until 2003. Now converted into offices, they are home to a banking hub. Another type of dough, so to speak.
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