I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1315 Stimulating Consumption
Soon, elegantly dressed waiters pushed a small brass cart and brought in the first course—

The mutton and wheat soup was a rich reddish-brown color, and the oysters were roasted to a golden brown and topped with minced garlic.

Walsh enthusiastically introduced the dishes to his cousin and his wife: "These are the most popular dishes at Versailles. Cioba soup from North Africa, with a slightly spicy flavor. And the most popular 'Prince Oysters,' which are truly a gift from God."

The former royal chef's skills were absolutely impeccable. After a few bites, Brod almost forgot his basic manners, his knife and fork practically flying off in circles. His wife coughed softly beside him, trying to remind him to be careful.

The appetizers were roasted pigeon and Spanish almond shortbread cream, while dessert was nut and chocolate ice cream.

"It is said that this is His Highness the Crown Prince's favorite dessert, and he eats three servings almost every day."

After his cousin finished his meal, Walsh tipped the waiter 5 francs, an amount so large that it made Brod's heart ache. Well, if he had known the meal cost a whopping 180 francs, he probably wouldn't have been able to stop himself from shouting it out.

After the group boarded the carriage, Walsh pointed to the brightly lit street in the distance and winked at Broad, saying:
"Alright, now let's start the real fun time. I promise you'll enjoy it."

The latter thought he was going to take her to experience "unspeakable" entertainment, so she quickly gestured with her eyes to the two ladies sitting opposite her and whispered, "Uh, shouldn't we send them back first?"

“Go back?” Walsh shook his head. “They’re doing their thing, we’re at another store.”

Brod's eyes widened instantly, and only one thought crossed his mind: the French are really playing tricks, but if this is the case, Sylvia will definitely have a huge fight with him when they get back.

"Um... is this really okay?"

“Of course.” As Walsh spoke, the car had already stopped in front of a shop with flashing colored lights at the entrance.

He gestured for his cousin to get out of the car, and then instructed his wife, "We're going inside. You and Sylvia can go to your usual shop."

"Okay, honey. See you later."

Broad nervously stepped into the shop under the colored gaslight, glancing guiltily at the two beautiful young ladies who opened the door for him, and thought to himself: Parisian girls are much prettier than those in The Hague!
Walsh greeted the shop owner familiarly: "This is my cousin, please prepare the most expensive service for him."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Earl."

Walsh had previously taken advantage of the fact that the buying and selling of titles in France had not yet been tightened, and spent a lot of money to buy himself an earldom.

Brod turned to look at the two girls by the door, swallowed hard, and thought to himself: We're already here; I can't let my cousin's good intentions go to waste. Sylvia will surely understand.

More than ten minutes later.

Brod lay on the soft recliner, humming softly in comfort.

"How's the pace, sir? Would you like to speed it up a bit?"

Broad raised his hand and waved it, then snorted, "That's it, keep going, don't stop."

The blond youth standing behind him smiled and nodded, scooped up a puff of foam from his chin and applied it to his forehead, then, lubricated by a facial cleanser made of yogurt and essential oil, began to vigorously rub his cheeks.

After a while, the blond youth stopped and began stirring a mixture of powder and oil.

Brod breathed a sigh of relief, just as he heard Walsh, who was lying next to him, introduce it to him: "This is the 'Oriental Cleansing' that His Highness the Crown Prince brought to Versailles Palace. What do you think? It's pretty good, isn't it?"

Well, actually, it was just that Joseph wanted to relax with an Indian-style facial after a busy day, something he'd done in his previous life, and it unexpectedly became a nationwide trend. Before Brod could even reply, the facial therapist applied a cream to his face and began the second round of rubbing.

After an unknown amount of time, Brod, his face sparkling clean after washing, walked out of the Oriental Facial Cleanser with his cousin, feeling as if a layer of his skin had been scrubbed off.

He glanced at the little girl by the door again and asked expectantly, "Where are we going next?"

“It’s right across the street.” Walsh pointed familiarly to the other side of the street. “This is much more comfortable.”

Upon entering the store, Broad was quickly seated in a chair, where a man who appeared to be a barber applied something to his head and then set his hair on fire.

Broad was so startled he almost jumped up, but luckily the barber was very experienced and pressed him down: "Don't be nervous, sir, there's no danger."

With a quick combing motion, the fire on the Dutchman's head went out, leaving the ends of his hair slightly curled.

Well, after Indian-style face washing became popular, Joseph simply created Indian-style flame haircut as well, but he never tried it himself—after trying it once while traveling in his previous life, his hair smelled burnt for several days.

After the haircut comes the shampoo.

It wasn't just a simple wash; a special cleaning solution was used, and the patient was repeatedly massaged and cleaned, which took a full half hour to finish.

With his head completely refreshed, Brod was taken by his cousin to the massage parlor next door for a luxurious full-body massage.

Meanwhile, on Mrs. Walsh's side, two ladies had just come out of the beauty spa, chatting and laughing, before walking into the nail salon next door.

The four of them spent over 300 francs on this street in just one and a half nights.

Yes, boosting the economy requires more than just expanding industrial production; stimulating consumption is equally important.

This street is currently the most famous "elegant lifestyle" leisure and entertainment street in Paris.

Initially, there were only a few barbershops and Indian-style facials here. Under Joseph's planning and promotion, it has expanded into a distinctive leisure venue with more than 60 shops of various kinds, occupying most of the street.

Even during the war in the first half of this year, this region contributed 17,000 francs in taxes to the French treasury each month.

With the end of the war, tourists from the provinces and even foreign countries flocked to Paris, and the turnover was expected to increase many times over.

Not far to the north of the "street of elegant living" lies the Champs-Élysées, which has developed into a shopping paradise in Paris.

Joseph also had the Paris City Hall plan a "food street" on the east side of the street.

The next morning, Broad sat in his carriage, still savoring the wonderful experiences of the previous night, which were far more interesting than the usual balls and parties.

Walsh was still talking with great interest about the play they were going to see that day—they were on their way to the Théâtre Royal in France.

Brod finally remembered his most important purpose for coming to Paris, and hurriedly interrupted him somewhat awkwardly during a break in his speech: "Well, dear cousin, I actually have a very difficult problem, but only you can help me now."

He then explained the family business's difficult situation: "If you could lend me £7, or even £5, that would be a lifesaver. I'm willing to pay you 8% interest."

(End of this chapter)