1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 207: Talking about the wildest topics in the simplest places
Blanc gained considerable prestige in Lourmarin by driving away the college students.

The villagers are becoming more and more fond of this filmmaker from the Hautes-Pyrénées.

In fact, villagers don't really reject "outsiders".

Neither Ronan nor Blanco were native to Lourmarin, but as long as they were nice to the villagers, they would be treated as family.

Seeing Blanco appear in the restaurant, Pierre covered his mouth and nose and waved at Blanco:

"Get out quickly, there's sanding going on in the backyard, and it's all dusty."

Blanco didn't have any protective equipment and was wearing a suit that would get dirty in a place like this.

The construction noise on site was too loud, so Blanco walked over to Pierre and covered his nose with his suit sleeve:

"Is everything going well here?"

"It's going well!" Pierre leaned closer to listen. "It's almost done!"

Blanco patted Pierre's arm:

"I just came in to take a look. You guys go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving now."

Ronan's restaurant is the most important shop on the commercial street. Blanco takes it very seriously and comes to check it out every week.

He felt relieved knowing that everything was going well here and he wouldn't delay everyone's work.

Suddenly, Ronan's head popped out from the second floor:

"Blanco, do you have a minute? Come up and talk?"

Ronan has been doing knitting work on the second floor recently, where there is a small stool and a small table.

The village chief came. Ronan gave up the small bench and sat on the straw on the ground. Blanco sat on the bench that didn't match his suit at all.

In this extremely rural scene, two key figures in Lourmarin started an important conversation about the fate of Lourmarin in the next few decades.

"I heard from a friend that the budget that Lourmarin applied for from the Vaucluse Tourism Bureau was rejected again?" Ronan asked, hugging his knees.

Ronan's first opening remarks gave Blanco a "blow to the head".

How could Ronan know such a confidential matter?
"What friend told you?" Blanco didn't mean to blame him, he was just curious.

"A friend who does business." Ronan didn't want to explain the question too much. "Is it true?"

Blanco narrowed his eyes in surprise.

Can business people know government news?
How big must that business be? Maybe it is one of the most powerful companies in Provence.

Ronan actually knows such a powerful friend?
Blanco nodded solemnly:

"It's true. This is the fourth time in two years."

Ronan let out a long sigh.

Astrid is really amazing. Judging from her attitude towards Llorente and Corentin, we can guess that her connections in the government may be at an unimaginable level.

"What's the reason for the refusal?" Ronan asked.

Blanco said bitterly:
"The reason is that Lourmarin has not yet met their 'support' standards. There are no special attractions, no historical sites that can tell stories, no popular and unique markets, and even no decent restaurants. They hope that Lourmarin can first work hard to make some achievements and prove what it can bring to the tourism industry in Vaucluse before discussing the topic of 'budget'."

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

Blanco's answer was almost the same as the 'tip' Astrid had given him - there was nothing in Lourmarin that would interest the Tourism Bureau.

"Do you know what the Vaucluse Tourism Board is interested in?" Ronan continued.

Blanco shook his head:
"If I had known, I wouldn't have been rejected for the fourth time in two years! But I will apply again next spring. By then, the commercial street will be up and running, and there will be things to show. Moreover, the government will determine a distinctive development path for Lourmarin, which is the topic we talked about last time. With new things, maybe the attitude of the higher-ups will be different. Lourmarin is indeed too 'backward' now."

Defining Lourmarin's 'character' has always been a top priority for the government.

No matter what, we have to find a feature to launch next spring!

Blanco's passionate speech was not well received by the audience.

Ronan said calmly:

“If you don’t know what they’re interested in, it becomes a gamble.”

Blanco lowered his head in frustration:

"I've been to the Tourism Bureau many times, almost every month. But I can't get any useful information. They just ask you to make it first."

The lost Blanco suddenly heard a young man dressed like a farmer with straw all over his clothes say:
"I think I know something that the Vaucluse Tourism Office might be interested in."

Blanco's eyes widened to the size of grapes:

"you know?"

Are you kidding me, Ronan? Ronan said cautiously:

"I'm not sure, I'm just speculating. I'll tell you all the information I know, and you can judge for yourself if it's what I understand."

Blanco put his hands on his knees, looking as serious as a student waiting to listen to the teacher's lecture.

Ronan spoke slowly:
"About half a year ago, I attended a party where a person from the Vaucluse Tourism Bureau was there. He wanted another friend of mine to help persuade the wine cooperatives in the Vaucluse to increase the proportion of rosé wine, and was willing to give a sum of money to promote this matter."

Astrid's suggestion was very clear. She suggested that Ronan work with the Lourmarin government to develop rosé wine. This is what she called "taking advantage of the situation" and "borrowing strength."

But doing pink wine business is Ronan's "dream" and has nothing to do with the Lourmarin government. During this period, Ronan has been thinking about how to tell Blanco about this.

Lourmarin does need a distinctive cultural development path, and rosé wine also meets Blanc's needs. There is no town in Provence named after rosé wine.

But the reputation of rosé wine is too bad, and if this suggestion is made abruptly, Blanco will refute it with dozens of reasons.

At this time, Ronan thought about what happened when he first attended a meeting of the Vaucluse Pink Wine Lovers Association.

That day, broker Llorente brought Quincy from the Vaucluse Tourism Bureau to the scene, hoping to persuade President Ines to encourage wine cooperatives in the Luberon region to produce more rosé wine.

and the reason
Blanco frowned:
“Why should the tourism board pay wine cooperatives to increase the percentage of rosé wine they make?”

Ronan told Mr. Jacques's speculation that day:

"I guess they want to develop or protect the art of hand-made rosé wine, which can only be done by a wine cooperative that makes wine by hand, while wineries all make wine by machine. You should know the difference, right?"

Blanco certainly knows the difference.

Most machine-made rosé wines are blended from red and white wines.

"But what does this have to do with the Tourism Bureau? Are you sure this is what the Tourism Bureau should do?" Blanco was totally confused.

Ronan said sincerely:

"My friend, the one who told me that Lourmarin's application was rejected by the Vaucluse Tourism Bureau, said that the Tourism Bureau wanted to take away some of the Cultural Bureau's business. Of course, I'm not sure if this is true. You can go and confirm it again."

Ronan's 'friend' has a strong background, so Blanco dared not question it.

But pink wine
Can't you just change something?

"So you think the craft of hand-making rosé wine is something the Tourism Bureau is very interested in?" Blanco asked with a complicated expression.

Ronan saw Blanco's embarrassment and shrugged:
"I don't know what the government is thinking. I'm just telling you what I know. But Blanco, you and I both know that the Tourism Bureau has a huge budget. Even if they are not 'very' interested, just 'a little' interested is already very important to Lourmarin now."

Blanco lowered his head and thought for a while, then suddenly patted his leg:

"I'm going to research this now."

Before going downstairs, he solemnly promised Ronan:
"Ronan, Lourmarin will not disappoint everyone who loves it."

The farmers were temporarily idle. Logically, Luo Tianhai's "boxed lunch supply" business should have stopped, but unexpectedly, there were still twenty or thirty people ordering meals from the Ronan family every day.

Lourmarin is very poor and backward, but there are also wealthy people.

For example, villagers who go to other villages to do business, outsiders who come to retire, rich people who come to Provence to relax, etc.

The main thing is that the food cooked by Luo Tianhai really suits the taste of Provencal people and the price is reasonable.

One day, the family of three sat down to do the accounting and found that even without counting the two markets, the boxed lunches brought in a fixed income of around 5000 francs per week, which was higher than Ronan's income from selling sweet and sour pork and rosé wine at the Lourmarin market during the travel season.

You know, these villagers who order meals every day can become loyal customers of the restaurant, and they will definitely come to support the restaurant when it opens.

There is also frequent good news coming from the market, with more and more repeat customers, and every time there are stalls, people ask about the opening time of the restaurant.

"It is tentatively scheduled for early October. Once it is confirmed, we will put a sign here to notify you. You will be able to see it when you pass by even if you don't buy anything." Luo Tianhai handed the lunch box to a customer who had bought from him for three consecutive weeks.

Nowadays, almost all the people who come to the market to buy things are residents of this village or nearby villages.

They come to the market once a week to make large purchases, and as long as they put up a sign everyone can be notified.

On the other side, Ronan was clanging the wok, full of energy:

"Can you finally relax a little, Dad? We don't have to count on tourists. When the restaurant opens, there will definitely be locals coming to eat."

Luo Tianhai brought a stack of lunch boxes to the stall owners:

"We can't let our guard down. I'll go call again to see if anyone is hungry again."

Dad is so ambitious, so his son can't slack off.

While Ronan was making sweet and sour pork, he shouted loudly:

"Mr., Ms., Miss, would you like to try the special pink wine of Provence? This kind of wine that can only be drunk in Provence tastes best with Chinese food! In October, the first Chinese restaurant in Luberon will open in Lourmarin! Now you can taste it two months in advance, come and try it!"

(End of this chapter)