1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 132: 'Exciting' Mediterranean Trip [2000 monthly tickets plus more]

Marseille was a famous tourist destination before Provence became known to the world.

This coastal city not only has beautiful Mediterranean scenery, but also has beautiful landscapes on the other three sides.

To the north of Marseille are the Garabon Mountains and the Etoile Mountains, which are over 1000 meters above sea level and are suitable for hiking with beautiful scenery.

To the west of Marseille is L'Estaque, a former artists' colony, a fishing village as beautiful as an oil painting. In a letter to a friend in 1876, the famous French artist Cézanne described L'Estaque like this: the olive and pine trees are evergreen all year round, the sun is so dazzling, everything seems to be only silhouettes, not in black and white, but in blue, red, brown and purple.

This time, Lucas chose to drive Ronan all the way east.

They drove too far, probably at least 20 kilometers, and Ronan couldn't help asking:
"Where are we going?"

Along the way, there were only snow-white mountains made of limestone and endless pine forests, and there was no place to go on vacation.

Ronan even suspected that Lucas was going to take him to Casillas, a city next to Marseille. This direction was to Casillas.

Lucas leaned his elbows on the car window and said in an ambiguous tone:

"There's nothing good in the city. I'll take you to a 'good place'."

"Are you sure it's a 'good place'?" Ronan looked around. "It's too desolate here."

As if to cooperate with Ronan, Lucas drove the car off the road and into the dense forest.

He laughed heartily:
"Afraid?"

Ronan sneered and found a comfortable position to sit in his seat:
“Never afraid.”

Although it is a dense forest, there is a dirt road in the middle that is quite flat, and you can tell at a glance that many cars pass by here frequently.

After driving for another five or six minutes, the car drove out of the dense forest and the view in front of us suddenly opened up.

After seeing the scenery clearly, Ronan jumped up excitedly:
"Where is this? It's so beautiful."

The steep mountain ridge plunges straight into the Mediterranean Sea, creating a beautiful picture of towering cliffs, narrow sandy beaches and azure waters.

Lucas parked the car at the end of the road, with a cliff below:
“East of Marseille is a rugged coastal area dotted with many beautiful fjords. I heard that a huge national park will be built here in the future.”

Ronan poked his head out excitedly, looking eager:
"How to get down?"

How can you just look at it?
Got to go down and have some fun
Lucas lit a cigarette with a complicated expression.

In the past, he tried his best to find out Ronan's "preferences", and even gave his own sister away. But he was rejected every time.

Now that he had given up on "winning over" Ronan, he had found the answer.

Maybe this was a reminder from God not to go into business with Ronan? Or was it just not the right time?
Lucas brought Ronan to a 'wild bay' and it took them quite a bit of effort to climb down.

But the more off-road you go, the better the scenery becomes.

The water quality in the bay is very good, and you can clearly see the sand and rocks on the bottom of the water and the occasional fish swimming by.

There are young people seeking excitement and diving on one side of the rock wall.

Listening to their excited shouting, Ronan's heart also began to beat.

"If you had told me earlier that you wanted to come here, I would have bought some swimming trunks on the way." Ronan complained unwillingly on the shore.

Now that we're at the beach, it would be a shame not to go in the water, right?
When I turned around, I found that Lucas had already started taking off his clothes.

"Do I need swimming trunks to swim?" Lucas jumped into the blue water with all his might.

He surfaced and shouted to Ronan above his head:
"Come down, and stop being such a dithering woman."

Ronan: "."

Lucas was the most "lively" one in the entire fjord.

Not only did he dive from the rock wall with the young men, he also competed in swimming with strangers, and he simply couldn't keep still.

Whenever he heard someone praising him, Lucas would burst into a hearty laugh that echoed throughout the fjord, and Ronan could still hear it even if he was lying on the beach 50 meters away from him.

He sighed more than once - God, doesn't Lucas know how tired he is?

"You're so bad." Lucas finally remembered that he had a partner, and climbed ashore to find Ronan lying in the sun.

Ronan shrugged innocently:

“There are lots of ways to go on vacation, right?”

The schedule for the next few days is getting fuller and fuller, so I can’t waste all my energy today.

Lucas lay down next to Ronan and patted the ground a few times:
"That's great! Did you see that? I left those guys at least two steps ahead of me!"

Ronan praised Lucas earnestly for a long time, and only after he had satisfied the proud Lucas did he dare to move on to the next topic:
"Can Marseilles go fishing?"

This trip to the fjord completely aroused Ronan's curiosity about the sea.

The sun was too strong, Lucas squinted his eyes:
"The tides in the Mediterranean are not obvious, so you can't catch crabs. If you're lucky, you might be able to catch some crabs. If you want to catch crabs, you should go to Brittany or Normandy, which have the longest coastline in Europe."

Ronan sighed regretfully:
"I also want to go catch some seafood."

Lucas muttered quietly:
"But Marseille can go fishing, and the fishing industry here is the largest in France."

Ronan suddenly thought of something:
"By the way, Lucas, do you have a Marseille Point? Where is it now?"

After waiting for a long time, no one responded.

Listening more carefully, I could hear the person next to me snoring loudly.

Ronan smiled and shook his head.

You know you're tired, too.
On the way back, Lucas took the initiative to bring up the topic of going out to sea to fish.

He said that when Ronan stayed in Marseille for a longer time, he could rent a boat to take him out fishing. At the same time, Lucas accidentally revealed a piece of news -

"You sold the Marseille barque?" Ronan asked in surprise.

If I remember correctly, Lucas bought that pointed boat at the end of last year so that he could go out to sea on his own boat this summer.

Lucas said calmly:
“It’s only open a few times a year.”

Ronan turned his gaze to the window on his side.

Olivier's withdrawal must have brought huge financial and psychological pressure to Lucas. The "strength" shown by this guy was all fake.

Ronan really wanted to comfort Lucas, or just scold him and tell him not to act on his own.

But he is a proud Lucas. Saying this is undoubtedly rubbing salt in his wounds and will not change anything.

"The cultivation cycle of artificial truffles is very long, at least 2-3 years. There is still time to change something." Ronan comforted himself.

Before parting, Lucas took the initiative to ask when Ronan's parents would come, and said that the jeep could be delivered in advance.

Ronan's car could only seat two people, so he couldn't take his father back to Lourmarin.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Ronan said gratefully.

He felt even more conflicted. Lucas was always so thoughtful.
Lucas asked in a joking tone:

"How do you solve this problem? Let your parents squeeze into the carriage with the luggage?"

Ronan smiled and opened the car door:

"I don't want to get my ass kicked."

Lucas called out to Ronan who was leaving:

"I was serious."

Ronan waved his hand at him:

"I'm serious. My parents' move to a new city is such a big deal, it's worth buying a big 'gift' to celebrate."

Ronan’s trip to Marseille also had another agenda - buying a car.

He wanted to give his parents a car as a gift for their first arrival in Lourmarin.

The main function of the Citroen Dyane that Ronan is driving now is to transport goods, so it is necessary to buy another car that can be used for family travel.

There are several times more car dealers in Marseille than in Apted, and Ronan believes that he can definitely pick out the big guy he likes here.

The second day in Marseille was not smooth. A breakfast with a stronger taste than the dinner made by Leah kicked off the new day.

Breakfast is just a small thing, but it reminds Ronan that you must pay attention when buying a car and never forget the 'Marseille characteristics'.

Ronan drove to a car factory not far from the Old Port.

Among all the 'exaggerated' slogans in the newspapers, this store's slogan was the most simple, so Ronan chose it as his first stop.

Ronan didn't call ahead to make an appointment, and when he drove into the car factory, the security guard stopped him:

“You can’t park here.”

Ronan pointed to the yard and said:
"I'm here to look at the car."

The store is huge, with an area nearly the size of a football field filled with parked cars.

Ronan thought he made a good choice.

The security guards circled Ronan's car.

He seemed to be thinking - this guy shouldn't be too broke to retire, right?
But he was just a security guard, not a car appraiser, so after a brief hesitation he let Ronan in:
"Sir, I hope you can buy the car you want today."

Security is just the first hurdle Ronan has to overcome today.

Since he had not called ahead to make an appointment, no salesperson was available to meet him immediately.

Ronan could only sit in the empty office and pass the time reading the brochures on the table.

The content of the brochure is fascinating.

It contains the latest vehicle information released by French domestic automobile manufacturers such as Citroen, Renault and Peugeot.

What’s even more exciting is their prices, which Ronan cannot afford.

"Who would buy a new car in Provence?" Ronan complained.

When Ronan had seven or eight brochures piled up in front of him and was beginning to feel bored, the office door was finally pushed open.

A woman in her thirties walked in with a smile on her face. She first looked Ronan up and down, then looked at the pile of brochures next to him:
"Sorry, the last customer asked so many questions that I couldn't get out of here. So shall we go look at the car now?"

Ronan followed her out of the office, describing his needs:
"I want to buy a sedan or a jeep."

"No problem." The lady smiled. "We have a lot of cars and jeeps here, all fresh off the production line."

"Just logged off?" Ronan tilted his head.

The lady winked at Ronan playfully:
"Yes, all the cars in those brochures you just looked at are available here."

Ronan also smiled and blinked, thinking:

How lucky I am to encounter the 'Maasai characteristics' so soon?

(End of this chapter)