The Moulin de Madame is located on the right bank of the river Lot in the old parish of Bias on the outskirts of Villeneuve-sur-Lot in south-west France. It was constructed during the reign of Louis XV by Pierre Bonnal, a successful local merchant who already owned a flour mill on the left bank of the river. In 1769, the king granted Bonnal permission to build the second mill on the right. A year later in 1770, it was described by the king's engineer, the navigation inspector of the Bordeaux district, as "..the most beautiful on the river Lot…"

Over time the mill became one of the largest and most important mills in the Lot-et-Garonne region. In 1977, the mill ceased to be operational and since that time has been unoccupied. It is around this mill that the Moulin de Madame development is based.

This area of France is increasingly popular with a rich local history and was for a long time ruled by the English. Villeneuve-sur-Lot was founded in 1264 by Alphonse, Count of Poitiers, brother of Louis IX, on the site of the old town of Gajac, which had been deserted during the Albigensian Crusade.

The town has since grown to be the main centre of this area of the Aquitaine. The town stands mainly on the right bank of the river Lot and is connected to the quarter on the left bank by a 13th century bridge. On the left bank there are still portions of the 13th century ramparts and high square towers rise above the gates to the north-east and south-west, known respectively as the Porte de Paris and Porte de Pujols.