1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 276 Reunion Moment
Christmas has its origins in religious history.

After the 19th century, this festival began to "transform" towards secularization, gradually evolving into a festival with both religious significance and global cultural resonance.

By the 20th century, Christmas was seen in the West as the most important family reunion time of the year.

On this day when family reunions are needed, the busy Louis temporarily put aside his work and money-making and embraced his family wholeheartedly.

But this year's Christmas was very different from previous years. When he woke up in the morning, he was the only one at home. His wife and two children all went to Ronan's restaurant.

Leah and Vieri had work to do, and Zoe went to help.

Louis took out the breakfast sandwich that Leah had prepared with layers of insulation and found it was still warm. The coffee in the coffee pot was also steaming.

This made him miss his 'family' even more.

He decided to go to Ronan's restaurant to help out for a day today and reunite with his family in another way!
The streets of Lourmarin have been decorated for Christmas, and Christmas decorations are placed on the doors of every house.

The most lively of these is, of course, the new 'attraction' commercial street in Lourmarin.

Before he even reached the commercial street, Louis heard lively voices and it seemed like there were a lot of people there.

It seems that the cold winter has not dampened everyone's enthusiasm for the festival.

After turning a corner and officially entering the commercial street, Louis saw an acquaintance after just two steps - Alan was selling bread in front of a stall, and the entire stall was decorated with a strong Christmas atmosphere.

"Why are you setting up a stall?" Louis walked over and asked.

He found that there were more than one makeshift stalls on the commercial street, and there was a stall decorated in Christmas style every few meters.

Alan was wearing a thick cotton coat, stamping his feet and rubbing his hands, but the smile on his face did not fade:

"Ronan said that people would gather on the commercial street today, and suggested that the government organize a small market. You know what, this trick really works. I almost sold out all the bread in less than one morning."

Louis saw him stamping his feet and asked with concern:

"Are you wearing too little? Should I go home and get you some clothes?"

Alan waved his hands repeatedly:

"No, no, Vieri brought me blankets and hot water, and I will close the stall and go home to celebrate the holidays after selling these. I didn't expect to sell so well today. I didn't prepare enough."

Thinking of Vieri who was still "arguing" with others last night, Louis snorted coldly.

Does Vieri know how to take care of people?
Leia or Ronan must have asked him to come.

Alan pointed to the center of the commercial street with his chin:
"Want to go to Ronan's restaurant? Go ahead, it's very busy there right now. I'll go find Nicola after I close the stall."

"Okay, see you later." Louis said goodbye to Alan and continued walking towards the restaurant.

Louis found that the temporary market on the commercial street was very lively.

Not only Alan came, but also the owners of the tobacco shop, grocery store, and delicatessen all set up stalls here.

He also saw Christmas-only foods such as mulled wine and Provencal spice bread.

“It’s a bit like the Christmas market in Avignon.”

The largest Christmas market in Vaucluse is in Avignon, where a Christmas-themed market is held from late November to early January every year, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists and local residents.

When Vieri and Zoe were very young, Louis and Leah took them to Avignon for Christmas. On the way back, Vieri said that he wanted to go to Avignon every year for the holiday because the Christmas atmosphere there was so strong.

Look, Lourmarin also has its own Christmas market!

Although the scale is still small, it has already taken shape.

Maybe in two years, Lourmarin will really have its own Christmas market and attract tourists from other places.

"Lourmarin has changed a lot this year," Louis couldn't help but sigh.

Of course, the biggest changes for Louis this year are his wife Leah and daughter Zoe.

One of them found her career direction, and the other made a huge breakthrough in her career.

Thinking of this, Louis happily quickened his pace. He wanted to reunite with his family as soon as possible.

At the entrance of the restaurant, Louis saw Isabelle, dressed in court attire, who was settling the people waiting for their seats.

The buildings on the commercial street continue the medieval style of the Lourmarin village. Against this background, seeing waiters in court costumes walking back and forth does give you an immersive feeling spanning a hundred years.

"Business is good. There are people waiting for a seat?" Louis asked her.

Isabel nodded excitedly:
"The Christmas event attracted quite a lot of people and the seats were full after 10 o'clock."

Louis said "Wow" several times:
“The events that Ronan curates are always so outstanding.”

Isabel hesitated for a moment, but in the end she did not correct Louis' words, but urged him:
"Come in quickly, there are surprises inside."

Louis entered the restaurant with great anticipation, and the first person he saw was Vieri, who was also dressed in court costume.

While he was stunned, Vieri asked without any emotion:

"Sir, we provide free medieval costumes here. Do you need to change into one before dining?"

Louis followed the direction Vieri pointed and saw a simple clothes rack with various styles of classical clothing on it:

"It looks pretty good."

Vieri urged:

"Sir, do you want to change?"

Louis looked at Vieri speechlessly, thinking, are you still interested in me?
Seeing that Louis didn't say anything, Vieri very professionally made a gesture of invitation:
"Then please come in."

Louis finally entered the restaurant and saw Zoe helping at the cashier. He pointed at the door and complained to Zoe:
"Vieri actually called me sir??"

Zoe forced out a helpless smile:

"He calls me ma'am, too."

She then went on to add:
"And it's been going on for more than half a month."

Vieri met Zoe in the restaurant and kept calling her 'Madam', and Zoe was at a loss for words.

There were a lot of guests in the restaurant, and many children changed into court costumes and took photos in front of the Christmas decorations. This service was also provided free of charge by the restaurant.

Louis rolled up his sleeves eagerly:
"I'll help." Zoe's eyes were filled with fear. She pointed to a long table full of desserts and said to Louis:
"Then go ask Ronan if there is anything else he can arrange for you."

Desserts are definitely a very important part of Christmas.

In order to create the important "Thirteen Desserts" atmosphere, a special area for desserts was set up in the restaurant, on which were displayed the Christmas limited edition desserts that Ronan and Leah had recently developed together.

At this time, Ronan and Leah were 'restocking' the area.

"Oh, God, I'm hungry just looking at these desserts." Louis came to Leah and Ronan and said enthusiastically, "Let me help you!"

Leia and Ronan exclaimed at the same time and put some distance between the desserts in their hands and Louis.

"What are you going to do?" Leah asked in horror.

Louis gave his wife a hug:
"I'm here to reunite with my family. The three of you are working in the restaurant, so I'm here to help."

Louis had very few holidays, and Leah was touched that he was willing to give up his rest time to come to the restaurant and spend time with his family.

But Louis is a troublemaker and he often messes up.

Leah didn't dare bet that God would let Louis get into less trouble just because it was Christmas.

But she couldn't refuse her husband's enthusiasm, so she had no choice but to push the responsibility away:
"Ronan, are you short of people?"

Ronan forced an innocent smile:

"Let me think about it."

Leah took the dessert plate and left. When Louis wasn't paying attention, she mouthed to Ronan:
"Don't let Louis touch anything, please!!"

"Shall I order?" Louis asked Ronan.

Ronan pulled Louis aside and randomly assigned him a safe job:

"I'm a little busy today. I have to go to the back to make desserts. I don't have the energy to take care of the overall situation. Please help me watch the front hall. If there are any problems with the event, please point them out at any time."

Louis smiled and spread his hands:

"How could there be anything wrong with this event? The palace theme, the photo service, and these desserts—"

Louis said in amazement:

"Every link is very attractive. This is the first time I see a restaurant that displays desserts like goods. Today's desserts will definitely sell very well. They are so attractive. Ronan, you are really a genius!"

Ronan smiled and shook his head, pointing at Vieri who was looking down at the "Activity Notes" at the door and said:

"These ideas were proposed by Vieri. You should praise Vieri as a genius."

Vieri held the "Activity Notes" in his hand every day and read it dozens of times, for fear of neglecting anything.

"Vieri?" Louis frowned and looked at his son at the door.

real or fake?

Louis wasn't the only one staring at Vieri in the restaurant.

Several female artists secretly watched him and chatted for a long time.

Vivian lowered her voice and said:

"I said Zoe's brother is pretty good, but you guys said he's too young. This royal costume makes him look like a prince. I can't imagine what he'll look like in a few years."

Paulette took a bite of the Christmas limited edition dessert and said in a complicated tone:

"Zoe's looks and temperament are so outstanding, her brother must be good and will definitely be a handsome guy in the future."

She suddenly said "Hmm?" and pointed at the Santa Claus-shaped cake with her fork and said:
"You guys should order one to try, its taste is as outstanding as its appearance, I thought it was just a gimmick."

Vivian looked at the dessert table:

"My Christmas tree cake is also delicious. I just wanted to recommend it to you. There are still many varieties that I haven't tried yet. I want to try every one of them."

"Then let's order them all? And eat them together?"

"Okay, come on, go pick out some dessert and stop staring at Zoe's brother."

"No delay, oh, it's really handsome."

"Are you a pervert? He's only seventeen!"

Isabelle was passing by Vivian's table with her guests and heard their conversation. She couldn't help but look back at Vieri who was working hard.

"Is he handsome? He's okay." She curled her lips.

After seeing off the guests, Isabel returned to the door to continue welcoming guests.

Freddy also brought his children to the restaurant to celebrate the holiday. Seeing so many people waiting for a table at the door, he opened his mouth exaggeratedly:
"Ronan is so amazing, the Christmas event was also so successful?"

Isabel murmured softly:
"It was planned by Ronan and Vieri together."

"What did you say?" Freddy didn't hear clearly.

Isabel raised her voice:
“The Christmas event was planned by Ronan and Vieri together!”

Vieri and Isabel were separated by only a large door.

Hearing Isabel's words, Vieri turned around happily.

In addition to Ronan, there is one more person in the world who affirms him.

Louis followed Ronan's arrangement and was responsible for "patrol" in the front hall, and finally reunited with his family.

But the other man was not so lucky.

Bruno, who was unable to go home, drank glass after glass in Ronan's restaurant, as if he had let out all the anger in his life.

Suddenly, a Christmas-style donut appeared on the table in front of him.

"Merry Christmas Bruno, do you want me to have a couple of drinks with you?" Ronan asked with a smile.

(End of this chapter)