1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 283 Land Art Activities
The possibility of taking over a winery came as a complete surprise to Ronan.

Two or three days after the party ended, he still hadn't recovered from the sudden shock.

But after two or three days, Ronan realized something.

Even without the change of ownership of the Strasga winery, he would have had to consider this issue in the future.

He made a bold statement about making rosé wine recognized by the people of Provence. Does he intend to spend his whole life only selling and never making his own?
He was bound to get involved in this industry sooner or later; it was just a matter of time.

However, Stella brought this forward.

After thinking it through, Ronan agreed with Astrid's statement—Stesga was an opportunity 'sent to him'.

If Ronan and Lourmaran can inherit the name 'Strasga', they will avoid many unnecessary detours.

But taking over the Stella winery is not an easy task.

He himself lacks funds and capabilities, and the Lourmaran government is not yet able to help him at this stage.

The good news is that the Stellasga winery is not closing down anytime soon, and it is very difficult to sell its wines, giving Ronan and the Lourmaran government some more time to 'develop'.

Ronan decided to spend the next month or two learning more about the brewing industry so that he would have more confidence when asking the government for loans in the future.

Blanco has recently sent Sylvie and his team out to learn about rosé wine and the industry in order to design and decorate the rosé museum on the high street.

It would be bad if everyone sat down to chat and found that Ronan knew nothing about the subject.

Once Ronan has a better understanding of the situation, he will go to the government to talk to Blanco about the Stella Winery.

The best timeframe is before Blanc applies for a budget from the Vaucluse tourism board. This would give both sides more leeway, and this matter might even be useful in the budget application process.

Blanco had mentioned to Ronan that he would probably submit the next round of budget requests in early March, giving Ronan enough time to study.

During this time, Ronan's second task was to find out Astrid's identity so that he could one day form a 'community of interest' with her.

Asking directly will not get you an answer; he needs to 'investigate' based on the information he has.

The only definite information Ronan currently has is that she visited Lourmarin to inquire about a collaboration with the museum, hoping to transform it into a perfume museum.

At the last gathering, Astrid also said that museums and rosé wine is a very successful business model in Provence.

Perhaps there are other perfume museums run by the Astrid family in Provence?
If it can be found, Ronan can also learn how this successful business model operates.

Ronan sought help from the artists at the restaurant, who, being from all over Provence, surely knew if such a perfume museum existed.

This inquiry revealed quite a lot.

There are actually seven or eight perfume-themed museums in Provence, scattered throughout the region, which really stumped Ronan.

Which one is run by the Astrid family?

Or is it that we can learn from and draw inspiration from each one?

“Then let’s go see them all,” Zoe suggested. “And didn’t you want to learn more about Provence’s wine culture? Then you should go out and explore even more. I’ll go with you.”

With the deadline for submitting 'Land Art' to the exhibition approaching, all the artists have been working overtime to create their works.

If Ronan wants to see Zoe, he'll have to come to her house.

But no matter when Ronan came, Zoe was always in the studio, as if she never took a break.

Ronan asked her with a smile:

"Where would you find the time? You haven't had time to eat at restaurants lately."

Zoe rubbed her sore neck:

"If you stay at home all the time to create, your inspiration will dry up. It's good to go out for a walk occasionally."

Ronan pursed his lips:

"But today, Leah was complaining at the restaurant, saying that you didn't eat dinner until after 8 pm yesterday because you were trying to mix a color. Are you sure you can put down your work and go out to clear your head?" Zoe put her dust mask back on and said in a faint voice:
“I guess the perfume museum you’re looking for must be near Grasse, the ‘perfume capital’. Grasse is a bit far from Lourmarin, so we can arrange to go there in February when I’m done with my work. But there are many wineries in Luberon, so we can visit them anytime.”

"No rush, you go ahead and do your work." Ronan stood up, intending to leave so as not to delay Zoe's work.

Zoe suddenly called out to him from behind:
How's your practice going?

How is my 'practice' going?

Ronan immediately opened the system and looked at the values ​​at the bottom.

I'm still 800 points away from reaching 5000 [happiness points].

"It's fine, it meets expectations," Ronan said without batting an eye.

It's exactly as expected; I'll definitely be able to collect 5000 [Cooking] upgrades by the end of the month.

Zoe asked seriously:

"So, what about your work? Have you decided what you want to create?"

Artists determine the theme of their works through multiple rounds of brainstorming.

But she had never heard Ronan mention this topic.

Seeing that Ronan couldn't answer immediately, Zoe sighed:

"There's not much time left. If you need any help, please feel free to contact me anytime."

“Okay,” Ronan immediately agreed.

After that conversation with Zoe, Ronan felt that he should indeed allocate some energy to the 'Land Art' activities.

If you want to open a winery, artists may be the largest customer group in the early stages, and in the future, you need to have a closer relationship with artists.

Previously, my mindset was that it didn't matter whether I went to the event or not, but now I have to go.

Ideally, we should gain some attention through the 'Earth Event' to not only drive traffic to the restaurant but also lay the groundwork for selling rosé wine in the future.

However, he could not confirm whether the upgraded [Cooking] skill would definitely be helpful for the 'Earth Art' event.

In other words, Ronan may face a situation where he has to compete with his current abilities.

If that's the case, then we definitely need to 'practice' a bit.

In fact, the themes of 'Earth Art' activities are very broad; any element that is related to nature and the earth is acceptable.

For example, the Christmas tree cookies and butter flowers he made before all fit the theme.

But as artists complain about every day in restaurants—where is the advantage?

While creating desserts certainly has its own unique aspects, the theme is equally important.

It's difficult to compete with the world-class artists in Provence when it comes to making flowers and plants for desserts.

We must strive to create works with both 'depth' and 'high'!
After that, Ronan would pay special attention to things and objects related to nature around him, and whenever he found an interesting theme, he would try to make a dessert.

However, he mostly does it privately. He only shares it with Zoe and other artists if it's something particularly interesting.

But one day he came across an interesting topic.

That day, when he returned from digging for truffles, he had just entered the restaurant when Feng Zhen informed him:

"The meter reader came today, and when they opened the outside electrical box, they found a nest of wasps inside. It was terrifying! I'm going to call the fire department first thing tomorrow morning and have them remove the wasp nest!"

Ronan was taken aback.

wasp?

(End of this chapter)